Evangelion: Mirror Waltz
by Lord The Night Knight
Summary: Shinji, Asuke, and Rei are just normal schoolchildren... until they see visions of another world, and find themselves in that world. In a nutshell, it's "Evangelion" with a plot similar to "Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure".
1. Enter The Phantoms

I don't own anything to do with Evangelion, but you probably already knew that.

* * *

Evangelion: Mirror Waltz

Episode 1: "Enter the Phantoms"

* * *

The young woman rubbed he eyes, resting her elbows on a desk strewn with photocopies of old manuscripts. "How can this be so hard to crack? The piece is right here!" she complained to herself. She looked at her watch, which read 0300 hours. "Damn it. I need some coffee." She got up and walked to the other side of the darkened office.

She hesitated before reaching for the pot. 'He didn't say he needed this before he left.,' she thought. 'I could just look over them after he gets back. He wouldn't mind. Would he?'

She spent several seconds contemplating the question. Finally, she made her choice.

Or rather, two of her made different choices.

One of here just walked back to the desk, gathered up her notes, and put them in a secure briefcase.

The other one of her got a cup of coffee, and continued her research. A few minutes later, she stood at the papers in shock, slowly putting down her cup. "Oh my god," she whispered.

* * *

FIFTEEN YEARS LATER…

"Shinji, you idiot, wake up!" snapped a young girl with long, red hair.

As usual, that startled the young boy out of his dreams. He awoke and saw the redheaded girl leaning over him with her usual fiery gaze. "It's about time," she said.

"What is it, Asuka?" Shinji asked rubbing his eyes.

"What the hell does that mean?" Asuka snapped. "Can't you appreciate the fact that I went to the trouble of coming to wake you up?" She stood up and put on an indignant face. "Don't you have any words of appreciation for your oldest childhood friend?"

Shinji was still half asleep and rubbing his eyes. He moaned. "Thank you..." he said, "but let me sleep a little longer." He rolled over and pulled the sheet over his head.

Asuka was furious. "What are you doing?" She raised her clenched fist. "It's time for you to get up!" she yelled as she ripped the sheets off him.

Suddenly she stood up with a look of shock on her face that quickly turned to anger. She slapped Shinji so hard his alarm clock shook. "You pervert! I can't believe you've got one of those!" she screamed.

"I can't help it! It's morning!" Shinji snapped back.

* * *

Hearing the exchange across the apartment, Shinji's mother sighed as she washed another plate. "Oh my," she said. "Asuka is so sweet to come pick him up every morning, and he doesn't appreciate it."

Her husband merely grunted in agreement as he read the newspaper.

"Gendo, you have to get ready, too," she reminded him. Gendo just grunted again. "Gosh, you're just like Shinji," she commented.

"Are you ready?" Gendo finally asked.

"Anytime," the woman said. "I'm the one who gets complaints from Professor Fuyutsuki if you're late for the meeting."

"That's true. He's you're biggest fan," Gendo said.

"Oh, you! Cut that out and get ready."

Gendo grunted again. "I understand, Yui."

* * *

"Hurry up!" Asuka said to Shinji, as they got ready to leave.

"I know!" Shinji said getting tired of the badgering. "You're such a pain in the ass sometimes, Asuka!"

"What did you say?" Asuka said. She slapped Shinji again.

Shinji just stood at the door as the red welt on his face faded.

"We're leaving now!" Asuka called to Shinji's parents. She gave a dainty curtsey and then pushed Shinji out the door.

"I'm leaving," was all Shinji had time to say as he was shoved out.

"See you later, Sweetie!" Yui called. "Come on, Dear! Put the newspaper down!" She politely scolded Gendo.

"I understand, Yui."

* * *

In the sky, oddly colored lighting flashed for a brief moment. Even though there was no storm, no one noticed, because it was hidden behind one of the clouds.

Yet for anyone in meditation, they felt a slight electric surge in the air, for that moment.

* * *

There was another traffic jam clogging the roads of Tokyo 3 as Shinji and Asuka ran towards their school. "Hey, isn't there a new student starting today?" Shinji asked.

"Yeah, that's right!" Asuka answered. "Since this city's going to become the new capital, there're a lot of people moving in. It's no wonder we're getting so many new kids."

"Oh that makes sense." Shinji started to daydream as he ran. "I wonder what she's like? I hope she's cute!"

Asuka let out a jealous grumble, while on the other side of the street corner, a girl with short blue hair was running frantically with a slice of toast held in her teeth.

'Oh, I'm late! I'm late!' the girl thought hysterically. 'I can't be late for the first day!' She huffed as she ran towards the crosswalk. She screamed as she saw Shinji run directly in her path. Shinji saw the girl but neither was able to stop or move out of the way before they collided.

Shinji held his head trying not to yell. He looked up to apologize to the blue haired girl who was rubbing her head. She noticed that her skirt was facing the boy and she immediately covered it and then yelled in embarrassment. "I'm sorry! I'm in a hurry!" she said to the stunned boy. She started to run again. "I'm really very sorry!"

Asuka was barely able to contain her jealousy of Shinji's reaction to the girl.

* * *

"What?" exclaimed Shinji's friend and classmate, Toji. "Did you see her panties?"

"Well, it wasn't really a good look," Shinji admitted. "Just a little flash."

Toji was still blown away by the incident. "AHHHHH! I can't believe that you're the one who has all the luck! Ouch!" Toji's girlfriend, Hikari, grabbed his ear. "Why'd you do that for, Class Rep?" Toji said weakly feigning innocence.

"Suzuhara, just exactly what were you talking about?" Hikari accused. "Go change the water in the flower vase! You understand?"

"You're so mean," Toji complained as Hikari dragged him off.

"What did you just say?"

"Poor Toji's so hen-pecked. It's sad, isn't it?" Shinji said to his other friend, Kensuke.

"Look who's talking," Asuka commented.

"Are you saying that I'm easily manipulated?" Shinji said defensively.

"I'm merely reporting the facts," Asuka stated.

"How so?"

"It just is. Accept it."

"Why do you treat me like this?"

"Hey, that hurt's, idiot!"

"The calm, the peace and tranquility..." Kensuke said longingly.

The sound of a car racing through the parking lot caused Kensuke to look out the window. Shinji and Toji broke off their respective argument to join him as the car stopped in a space with a screeching halt. "It's Misato-san, our teacher!" Toji yelled.

Out of the car stepped a beautiful woman with dark purple hair. "Misato-san is so gorgeous!" Toji said as Kensuke took a picture of her with his camera. Misato saw the camera and held up a peace sign and smiled. Shinji, Toji, and Kensuke returned the gesture.

"Just look at those three stooges! Have they no shame?" Asuka and Hikari chorused enviously.

* * *

The school bell rang as Misato entered the room. "Stand up! Bow!" Hikari commanded. The class obeyed. "Sit down!"

"Lighten up, dudes!" Misato announced. "We've got a new blue-haired babe here to introduce herself!"

Misato stood aside to reveal the girl Shinji ran into. "My name's Ayanami Rei. Nice to meet you?" she said.

"AHHH!" Shinji yelled as he recognized her.

Rei looked to the yelling and saw Shinji. "You're the jerk who was staring at my panties!" she said.

Asuka stood up and put her hands on her hips. "Hey, what do you mean by that?" she said upset by Rei's accusation. "You're the one who was flashing them at Shinji!"

"Who are you and why are you defending him?" Rei said. "Are you guys doing it?"

That statement took Asuka aback. She blushed furiously. "No! We're just really good childhood friends! You shut up!" Asuka warned.

Hikari stood up hoping to regain some order. "Be quiet, you two! We're in a class, not a bar!"

Misato leaned back in her chair and grinned. "Hey, this is more interesting than class! I want to see how this turns out," she said. "Please continue!" The rest of the class laughed.

That incensed Hikari. However Shinji, Asuka, and Rei did not hear the laughter. The sound of distant gunfire filled their ears. They looked out the window and saw a giant skinny human in purple armor in the downtown district. It was shooting at something else that was covered by the smoke the bullets were creating.

The giant ceased fire to let the cloud clear, but a glowing pink tentacle came out of the smoke and knocked the giant to the ground and sliced a building next to it in two. The three students gasped as a huge magenta cockroach came out of the cloud.

"Shinji? Earth to Shinji!" Toji waved his hand in front of Shinji. Shinji blinked and the giants were gone and the building was whole.

"What were you three staring at?" Hikari asked.

"What?" Asuka was stunned. "Didn't you see the big purple man and the monster with those whips?" She waved her arms in a snake motion as she said that. The rest of the class gave her blank stares. "Never mind," she said meekly as she sat back in her chair.

Rei coughed. "I was, um... just wondering what those two were looking at."

Misato blinked a couple of times and then shrugged it off. "Well, Ayanami-san, take you seat and we'll start today's," Misato smile faded and she sighed, "lesson."

* * *

Rei was embarrassed by what happened and was eating lunch alone under a tree. Asuka walked up to her with Shinji meekly following behind.

"We don't have to bother her with this, Asuka." Shinji pleaded.

"Idiot!" Asuka scolded. "This never happened to us before! I'm sure she's trying to mess with our minds!"

"What makes you so sure?"

"I asked around. Her mother and grandmother are two of the best scientists in the world. They might be performing secret experiments on the student body!"

Rei heard this and stifled a laugh at the idiocy of that comment.

"Ha! I knew it!" Asuka accused. She leaned over Rei staring her down.

"Asuka," Shinji said nervously. He tugged at her dress.

"What are doing? Are you trying to control our minds? Is this some secret government-"?

The deafening roars cut off her words. The children could not hide the terror on their faces as they slowly turned in the direction of the noise. They saw several giants like the purple one except one was red and the rest were white. Asuka started to whimper.

The red giant let out another roar and leapt at the two giants nearest to the school. There was a shower of blood as the first white giant was torn in two. The second white giant had its head torn open by the red giant's fist and was then flung at the school. The three children screamed and dove for cover as the giant fell onto the grounds.

Several seconds passed before the three students realized they were still alive and that there were no signs of the battle. Asuka got up and smiled arrogantly. "Of course that wasn't real. Who could be fooled by something as obviously fake as-" she stopped when she saw that Shinji had fallen on top of Rei and his head was almost stuck in Rei's cleavage, which he might have enjoyed at any other time. "You pervert!" she screamed.

Shinji realized where he was and scrambled to his feet to brace for the inevitable assault from his childhood friend. But he first bowed apologetically to Rei. "I'm terribly sorry Miss Ayanami."

"I understand," said Rei just happy to be alive. "I'm sure you didn't mean it this time."

"This time?" Asuka snapped.

"Can we not start this again?" Shinji interrupted. "We have other things to worry about now!"

Due to the serious nature of the two incidents, Asuka listened to Shinji and broke off the confrontation. "You're right, Shinji."

Rei looked at the tree where she sat and saw food scattered. "Oh, no! My lunch!" she yelled.

Asuka and Shinji looked at the ruined meal. Asuka blushed with embarrassment. "I'm sorry," she admitted. "I... guess I knocked it over when the giant fell."

Rei was about to cry but Shinji patted her on the back. "Don't worry. My mom always over packs our lunches so we can share."

Rei smiled at him and gave him a quick hug. "Thank you!" Shinji smiled back. Asuka started to growl. "For a platonic friend, she sure gets jealous a lot." Rei commented.

"You said it!" Shinji laughed.

This infuriated Asuka and she smacked Shinji so hard he fell on the grass. "Stupid!" she said.

"Help me," pleaded the quivering mound.

* * *

It was after school and the three children were walking down the street with Toji and Kensuke in tow.

"Just why did those two morons have to come along?" Asuka asked in disgust.

"We're Shinji's friends and we can't let a couple of girls grab him and corrupt him," Kensuke said.

"At least, not without us around to watch!" Toji said as he playfully elbowed Kensuke and grinned. He stopped when Asuka gave him the glare of death.

Shinji was deliberately ignoring the exchange. "Do you think Dr. Ayanami can figure out what's going on?" he asked Rei.

"Dr. Akagi," corrected Rei. "Mommy took back her maiden name after the divorce."

"Oh. Sorry," Shinji said embarrassed.

Suddenly the three children stopped in their tracks and Toji and Kensuke nearly slammed into them. "What the hell are you doing?" Kensuke snapped.

"Nothing Kensuke," Shinji lied, as he looked at another giant sprinting across the street. only this one was in blue armor. When it disappeared, they resumed walking.

"Anyway, I'm sure Mommy can do it. She's a genius," Rei continued. "She and Grandma both won the Nobel prize for developing the Magi system."

"Sugoi!" exclaimed Kensuke.

"What the hell is the Magi system?" Asked Toji already bored.

"Come on, Toji!" said Kensuke. "It's the most advanced computer ever created! It can process the entire Internet by itself! Eh?" he asked as Rei and Shinji stopped at the intersection where the giant crossed. The three children put their hands on the pavement. "Is there something different about the street?"

Shinji paused then said, "We just thought there would be a footprint."

Toji was concerned. "Are you all right, Shinji?"

"Yes," he said as he, Rei, and Asuka continued walking. "I just want to find out what's going on." Toji and Kensuke were about to press further, but they shrugged instead and followed their friend.

* * *

"I'm home, Mommy!" Rei called out as she walked into the house. A couple seconds later, Dr. Akagi, a blonde woman, came into the room.

Toji grinned. "Hey, it's another looker. This is a really good day," he said as he nudged Shinji in the ribs.

"Rei!" Dr. Akagi exclaimed as she gave her daughter a big hug. "And how did my Wondergirl do on her first day at her new school?" She then saw Rei's guests. "Oh! I see you've already made some friends!" She motioned them all to come inside. They complied and tried to pack into her small couch. "I'm sorry we don't have more seats, but we're still unpacking."

"It's okay," Kensuke said even though he could barely breathe. "Is it true that the Magi actually discovered the final digit to Pi?"

"No. No!" Akagi laughed. "My mother just said that if there was one, the Magi could find it, Mr. um,"

"Aida Kensuke, Ma'am," he finished.

"Oh, that's a nice name. I'm Akagi Ritsuko," she said.

"And I'm Suzuhara Toji, Miss." Toji emphasized the last part as he leered.

"Aren't you dating Hikari?" Asuka accused.

"I'm just having fun!" Toji snapped under his breath.

"And you are?" Ritsuko asked Asuka.

"Soryu Asuka Langley," she said and bowed politely. "He's Ikari Shinji," she said pointing to Shinji who was starting to shake.

"Um, Ritsuko-san?" he said.

Ritsuko smiled when she realized what he was asking. "It's through the door at the end of the hall."

Shinji jumped up and ran through the hallway and turned right. The three others on the couch were able to inhale. They then saw Shinji running in the other direction. "I just can't remember which end," she finished. "Does anyone want tea?"

* * *

Shortly after that, Rei privately told her the situation, while Toji and Kensuke just sat in shock. Shinji's phone rang, and he excused himself to talk outside. "Moshi, moshi."

"Shinji," Gendo said, as he put his feet on his desk and removed his necktie, "I was wondering if you'd like to go to a football game this weekend,"

Shiji's face lit up. "Really?" Then he frowned a little. "Wait. You told me you would have some papers to grade."

"It's fine. Yui's caught up in her work, so she can handle it." He rubbed his clean-shaven chin. "She knows she'll be spending enough time with you soon enough."

Shinji just nodded. "So, uh, would it just be you and me?"

Gendo smiled. "You can bring your friends along. I'd love to show you all a good time. I'll just see how many tickets I can get."

"Wonderful!" Then Shinji's face turned stern. "But you can't take any more days off this month. Mom and I don't want you to hurt your chances for a promotion."

Gendo chuckled, and sighed, "All right, Son."

* * *

Later in the day, Ritsuko took the children to her workplace. They walked since it was located less than three blocks from the Agaki house. NERV Laboratories was a large building about five stories tall.

Shortly after they walked in, a young woman with short brown hair saw them. She blushed as Ritsuko walked up to her. "D, D, Dr. Agaki. I didn't think you'd come in today," the woman said nervously.

"Calm down, Maya. I'm not here to give an inspection." Ritsuko reassured her. Ritsuko wrapped her arm around Maya's shoulder. Maya suppressed a yelp, but she did start to shake. "This is my assistant, Ibuki Maya." She put her other arm on Maya's other shoulder. "She's one of our best technicians."

"Eeep!" Maya yelled, and she ran down the hall.

"Oh, poor dear. She always does that when I'm near her," Ritsuko lamented.

The six of them walked into the nearest elevator, and Ritsuko pressed the basement button.

"Maybe we should keep this thing about seeing monsters to ourselves." Toji suggested as the elevator doors opened.

"Oh! You think?" Asuka snapped as they walked out.

Ritsuko swiped her card through a reader and a steel door opened. The children were awed by what they saw. They were at the top of a huge room that was about nine stories tall. There were nearly two hundred people working on, and around three columns that stretched from the floor to the ceiling.

Kensuke was beside himself. "That's the Magi!" His gleeful grin nearly stretched wider than his face.

"You and your mother built that?" asked Shinji.

"Not the whole thing!" Ritsuko laughed. "We wrote the source codes. We based on the three parts of us."

"Huh?" Shinji said.

"Oh, wait! I remember this!" Kensuke said raising his hand and waving it as though he was in class. "The three parts of the Magi are yourselves as women, yourselves as mothers, and yourselves as scientists." Ritsuko smiled and nodded.

"That is the most stupid thing I have ever heard," Asuka said in German.

"So what? It still works," Ritsuko responded in Japanese. Asuka was stunned. A large sweat drop appeared on her face.

Shinji grinned, but he did it while looking away from Asuka. "Asuka lived in Germany for four years and she thinks she's the only one in Japan who knows German."

Asuka just huffed as Ritsuko lead them to the main terminal. "Ikari. That name sounds familiar," Ritsuko said to Shinji. "Would you be related to Yui Ikari?"

"She's my mother," Shinji answered.

"Oh, I guess Gendo did take her name."

"But how do you know them?"

"They worked with my mother years ago." Ritsuko looked at Asuka. "I also remember a Kyoko Soryu. Is she your mother?" Asuka didn't answer, but Shinji nodded.

Rei clapped her hands. "What a wonderful coincidence!" She squeezed Shinji and Asuka in each arm. "Our parents were friends, and now we are!"

"Wonderful," Asuka said sarcastically.

They finally reached the main terminal and two scientists, Makoto and Shigeru, turned to greet her. "I don't think this is a good time for a tour, Akagi-san," Makoto said.

"Why?" Ritsuko asked.

"The Magi have been detecting odd energy surges," Shigeru answered. "But they only appear for a few seconds at a time."

"When?"

"The first time was at 8:04 this morning. The second was at 12:17, and the third, at 15:21."

Ritsuko looked at her daughter. "Were those the times you hade the visions?"

Rei thought for a second. "That sounds about right." Shini and Asuka nodded in agreement.

Makoto and Shigeru were giving Rei strange looks. "Visions?" Shigeru asked.

"I'll explain later. Just tell me what the surges are," Ritsuko said.

Makoto coughed. "It may sound ridiculous, but the Magi say these are rifts in the space-time continuum," he said.

"What?" Toji said shocked. "You mean they could be seeing the future or another dimension?"

"The jock knows what the space-time continuum is?" Asuka said surprised.

"Come on!" Toji replied. "It's only mentioned in every other sci-fi movie these days."

"Well, that's what it is," Makoto said. "It's an opening to a parallel universe."

"Wow," Kensuke whispered in awe.

"So, why are Rei, Asuka, and I the only ones who can see them?" Shinji asked.

"We'll start to work on that right now," Ritsuko reassured him.

Suddenly the three children covered their ears. "What is it?" Ritsuko asked Rei.

Rei barely heard her mother over the noise that only she and two others perceived. "It's a giant pink drill," she finally said. "And it's crushing everything in its way."

Before anyone could reply, Rei, Shinji, and Asuka were enveloped in a ball of energy. They tried to talk, but they couldn't hear any sound. The ball twisted into a vortex and the children were powerless to avoid getting pulled in. The last thing they remembered was the face of a giant, pale, ghost child.

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

This is a restart of "Eva! Parallel Reality Genesis". I found the last parts were starting to get silly, and even though I knew how this would end, the details just started to get lost. So this is to give it a fresh start, and tighten the characterization.

That includes showing Gendo as someone who was not a workaholic in this world, to emphasize both the contrast, and his relationship with Shinji.

Same applies with Ritsuko. She is a mother, and her mother is still alive, so her attitude reflects these changes. Also, if Rei were her daughter, Ritsuko would have to have been fourteen or fifteen when Rei was born. So what? It happens. And Ritsuko and her daughter love each other.


	2. Unfamiliar World

I don't own anything to do with Evangelion, but you probably already knew that.

* * *

Evangelion: Mirror Waltz

Episode 2: "Unfamiliar World"

* * *

"Due to the special emergency, all lines are currently unavailable," said the voice on the other end of the public phone.

"What?" was all Shinji could say. He just put down the reciever, and looked around. "Did I have school today?" he asked himself, as he rubbed his head. "I think I was…"

Then he noticed he was holding something. It was a photo of Misato in shorts and a tank top. Shinji's eyes widened. He then saw the lipstick and the arrow pointing at her cleavage.

"Oh my god is Misato-san giving me an invitation?" he asked in a tone as lecherous as his grin. "I know she…"

Shinji frowned. "When did I get this?" He looked around. "What am I doing here?"

He then saw something in the distance, a pale child, but the image was gone before he could make out who it was.

Then all the birds perched on the phone lines flew off, and there was a crash so loud, every door and power line in twenty blocks was rattled. Shinji covered his ears until the noise stopped. He then heard jet engine noises and saw several hover copters flying to the city followed by another giant. This one seemed to Shinji as though a tar pit had come to life and all the dinosaur bones were still inside it.

'Giants?' he thought. 'I rememeber giants. We saw… I saw it and… and--'

His thoughts were interrupted by one of the copters firing a couple volleys of missiles at the giant. The giant was knocked back, but it quickly recovered. Then a glowing purple lance shot out of the giant's hand and impaled one of the copters, which fell less than five feet in front of Shinji.

The boy stood frozen in that spot, even as a blue car stopped right next to him.

"Shinji!" Misato called out. "Get in!"

Shinji didn't move. "Giants? More giants?" he muttered. He started to recall the battle he had seen between the red giant and the white giants.

His nerve broke. He ran away from the wreck, screaming.

"What the hell?" Misato snapped. She started the car after him, just fast enough to keep up with him. "Get in, damn it!" she yelled.

Shinji didn't stop, even as he was running out of breath.

Suddenly, a piece of debris fell in their path. Shinji finally stopped, but Misato looked ahead a second too late, and turned too sharply to avoid it. It was only because of the slow speed that the impact was relatively light.

But not light enough. Shinji watched the crash, and recognized the driver, now slumped over.

"Misato-san!" he screamed. The passenger door was unlocked, so he flung it open and dove inside. "Misato-san!" he called again, softly, but still urgently. Misato was still awake, but barely. She had no immediately apparent wounds.

"Uh, are you Shinji?" Misato asked, clearly in a daze.

Shinji held her face in his hands. "I'm here, Misato-san. You'll be okay. We just have to get you to a hospital."

Misato shook her head. "No, we have to get you to NERV."

"NERV?" Shinji asked, half to himself. He put his face in his hands. 'What was I doing yesterday? Or today? Damn it! Why can't I think?'

"Shinji?" Misato moaned.

He shook his head. "Does this place have an infirmary?" Misato nodded. "Then we'll go there."

Misato started the car again. Shinji got properly in the car, and noticed he was wearing a backpack. He shrugged and tossed it in the back seat, before putting on his seat belt. The car headed towards the highway. She drove at a moderate speed, trying to keep her attention on the road. Shinji kept an eye on her for a few moments. When he was sure she was able to continue, he looked around.

'It looks a bit like New Tokyo, but something's not right,' he thought. He was about to look to where the giant was walking, but thought better of it. 'Wasn't someone… my friends with me? Where was I?'

As they approached a highway, Shinji saw a plane fly over some nearby hills. Something seemed to drop. Misato stopped the car. "An N2 mine?" She covered her eyes and turned away. Shinji was confused for a second, but then he caught on and did the same.

The blast was extremely bright, but the car was well out of range of even the shockwave.

After the flash faded, Misato pounded her fist on the dashboard. "What were they thinking? That's not going to stop it! Ugh!" She nearly crumpled. Blood started to trickle down her forehead.

"MISATO-SAN!"

"I'll be fine," she said, with little conviction. "There's a first aid kit under my seat." Shinji practically fell over himself to get it.

* * *

"Where's the nearest hospital?" Shinji asked after bandaging Misato's head.

Misato shook her head. "No, we have to get you to NERV."

"Please, I don't think you'll make it," Shinji pleaded.

"None of us will if I don't get you there."

Shinji was stunned. "What?"

Misato groaned. "I can't tell you now. We just have to get there." She started the car again.

"We can't drive through that!" Shinji snapped.

"It's the shortest way."

"Through the radiation?" Shinji asked, trying not to freak out.

Misato looked at Shinji. "Haven't you heard of N2 bombs? They don't emit radiation."

"Really? I didn't know. I think I read something about them once," Shinji said. 'I think,' he finished in his thoughts. Misato's eyes started to close. "Misato-san!" Shinji was slapping her cheeks. "Stay with me!"

Misato slowly sat up. "Do you know how to drive?" she asked with a light smile.

Shinji blushed. "Actually…"

* * *

Just before dawn, a car drove into an empty parking lot next to a school. The lot was surrounded by a brick wall. Shinji and his parents walked out. "Is this legal?" the boy asked.

"No one comes to this lot on the weekens," Gendo assured him. "We should have complete privacy."

Shinji hesitated, but he got in the driver's seat, his father in the passenger's seat, and his mother just behind him. "But why?"

Gendo and Yui frowned. "We've seen your teacher drive," Gendo admitted.

"Misato-san?"

"We don't want you picking up any 'tips' from her!" Yui said sharply, as she handed her son the keys.

Shinji stared at her for a few moments, but finally noddedn and turned the car on.

* * *

"It's… complicated, but yeah," Shinji finally answered, doing a fake smile.

Misato was clearly not in the mood to question him about that. She just handed him the keys and got out. Shinji just sat there.

"Please, Shinji," Misato asked as she opened the passenger door. "We don't have much time. I'll tell you where to go."

* * *

"So what are you doing at NERV?" Shinji asked as he drove along the dirt-strewn highway.

"I just transferred there less than a week ago.," Misato answered softly.

'From our school?' Shinji thought. 'How the hell?' Misato was starting to doze off. Shinji shook here awake. "So… what did you do before that?"

Misato started talking about her old work, and Shinji tried to contain his confusion. 'Doesn't she remember being our teacher?' he asked himself. He just paid attention to the road. 'Wait, this is the highway to New Tokyo. But there was just a small town where we were.'

"Shinji?"

"Uh, do I turn at this exit?"

"No, the next two." Misato started to smile. "You're so nice," she said dreamily. "Where did you get that from?"

Shinji was actually puzzled for a second. "From my parents, of course."

Misato nodded. "Your mother must have been such a good woman."

'But you met her at the last parent-teacher conference! No, just keep her calm until we get there.' Shinji saw the giant moving out of the crater where the hills were. "Oh my god what is that thing?"

"It's classified," Misato answered. "We'll tell you once we reach NERV." Shinji turned onto the exit she mentioned. "It'll be at the end of this road."

Shinji accellerated. 'I want some answers, damn it.'

* * *

Shinji drove into a tunnel. He was surprised to see what appeared to be a curved stairway with giant steps further down the tunnel.

Misato reached into her purse and pulled out a red card. "Use this and it will take you to the Geo-front."

He stopped the car and put the card in the slot. The monitor said "Welcome, Captain Katsuragi."

"Is there a radio?" Shinji asked Misato.

"The green button just above the reader. Unngg!"

Shinji jammed his finger on the button. "Send a medical team!" he shouted.

"What?" a voice replied. "Who is this?"

"Ikari Shinji" Misato answered. "The third child." She collapsed.

"Hurry!" Shinji pleaded. He got off the radio and put Misato's head in his lap. Then the PA system warned about the large metal doors that closed behind the car, but Shinji didn't notice. "Please don't die Misato-san," he pleaded. "I've never even had a chance to ask you out to dinner," he added, forcing himself to smile.

Misato smiled back. "You're such a gentleman."

She spent the rest of the ride down just gazing at his face.

* * *

When they reached another set of doors, the large escelator stopped and the doors opened, revealing two medics with a gurney, and and Dr. Akagi. Akagi nearly gasped. She quickly regainder her composure and turned on a nearby radio. "Commander, The Third Child is all right. It's Captain Katsuragi who needs attention. I'll be bringing the boy right over."

"Understood," the voice on the other end replied.

'Was that--' Shinji was about to ask himself, but the medics taking Misato interrupted his thoughts.

"I am Dr. Akagi Ritsuko," the woman said after Misato had been wheeled off. "Come with me."

"Uh, have we met?" Shinji asked meekly.

"I don't believe so," Ritsuko answered flatly.

Shinji got out of the car, and remembered the backpack he was carrying. He picked it up, and looked through it as he followed Ritsuko.

'What the hell?' he thought as he looked at an SDAT player. 'Cassette tapes?'

* * *

After about ten minutes they were going up a lift next to a large tank with purple liquid. Even though it was murky, Shinji made out a large metallic hand.

"Oh my god is that? What the hell is it?" Shinji said.

"That... is the synthetic life form Evangelion, Unit 01." Ritsuko answered. "It is mankind's ultimate humanoid fighting machine. Built here in secret, it is our last hope."

Shinji just stared at the huge figure. "A giant robot? Like a Gundam?"

"What?" Ritsuko asked. "Oh, those TV shows. It's a crude analogy, but somewhat apt."

"So what do I have to do with this?"

"You'll find out when you see you father."

"My father is here? He'd better have some answers."

Ritsuko was puzzled by the comment, but decided not to press it.

'A giant robot? A real life robot? So why the hell…' He stopped walking. "Why are you showing me this?"

"We need you," Ritsuko answered without stopping. She turned on the lights to a nearby room.

'Need me? They don't mean…' Shinji's breathing subtly increased. He slowly walked into the doorway, and saw the face of the purple giant up close.

Shinji yelped at the sight and ran back into the doorway. "Did you bring me here to pilot that?" he asked, his eyes wide as saucers.

"Why else?" asked a familiar voice.

Shinji looked into the room, and up to where the voice came from. There was his father standing in a room over the robot's head. But he was wearing a mostly black coat, yellow glasses, a beard, and had a very cold demeanor.

Shinji's jaw dropped. 'No way. No way! This can't be my dad. How the hell?' He collapsed to his knees. "What the fuck is going on?" he screamed.

Gendo frowned, but was otherwise unmoved by the outburst. "We don't have much time. Will you pilot the Evangelion or not?"

"What?" Shinji slowly stood up. "You're wrong. Everything is wrong," he said in a normal tone. "You're not supposed to be this weird!" he shouted to his father. "I'm supposed to be at school! Misato-san is supposed to be teaching me!" Gendo and Ritsuko both gave puzzled looks at that comment. "And giant robots should have face masks!" Shinji added. "How can you sell toys with it looking like that? That has to be one of the worst licensing decisions ever!"

"Licensing?" Ritsuko asked incredulously.

"You know, selling the company brands on products other companies make for the purpose of supplemental income! Didn't you know that? What could we sell this on? Toothpaste? I'd be too scared to brush ever again!" His started to chuckle. "Or we could make a plush doll out of it! Give it to all the toddlers! They'll never be afraid of anything after growing up with that! Ha ha ha!" he said, now with his hands on his hips.

Even Gendo was starting to sweat watching this. 'What's wrong with him?'

"Evangelion!" Shinji shouted in a deep voice, as though he was the narrator to an old action series. "Born from the deepest nightmares, but cursed to depend on humanity to survive, this fearsome creature has dedicated itself to be humanity's protector! For only in knowing our deepest fears, can it know our strengths! Go, Go, Evangelion! With justice in your heart, protect all that we hold dear!" He then started singing the openings to one of the old "Ultraman" shows, while doing the occasional sentai pose.

"He's delusional" Ritsuko said.

"Never mind him," Gendo nearly snapped. He regained his composure. "He clearly couldn't handle the stress of this. I'll have him sent home." He stared at Shinji. 'What happened? The Marduk report stated he was fit for this.' He shook his head and looked at a monitor next to him. "Fuyutsuki?" he asked as an older man appeared on that monitor.

"Yes?" Fuyutsuki responded. "Wake up Rei." "Are you sure she's ready?" "She isn't dead."

"I understand." Fuyutsuki signed off.

Shinji finally stood still. "Rei," he whispered.

"My name's Ayanami Rei. Nice to meet you?" said the blue-haired girl to the class.

Shinji's memory started flooding back.

' Be quiet, you two! We're in a class, not a bar!'

'Her mother and grandmother are two of the best scientists in the world.'

'And how did my Wondergirl do on her first day at her new school?'

'The Magi have been detecting odd energy surges. But they only appear for a few seconds at a time.'

'Well, that's what it is. It's an opening to a parallel universe.'

'...a parallel universe.'

"Holy shit!" Shinji screamed.

Gendo was not listening or caring.

"Rei?" he spoke to another monitor.

"Um, hello?" the girl replied tentatively.

"Our spare is unusable. You will do it again."

"What are you talking about, Mister?" Rei said.

Gendo frowned. "Just come down here. That is an order."

"Um... okay." Rei said unsure of what else to do.

"Reconfigure Unit 01's system to Rei, then reactivate!" Ritsuko commanded the workers in the room.

'This is that other universe?' Shinji thought. 'That would explain a lot. But how did I get here? Was it just me? Who else--'

"Gendo? There is something you should know." Fuyutsuki said from a speakerphone.

"What?" Gendo replied.

"I wanted to make absolutely sure, but Rei has made a complete recovery overnight."

Gendo smiled. "Excellent. I guess she's tougher than we thought. Send her in."

Gendo's smile faded when the door opened.

"Mommy!" Rei exclaimed with a beaming smile as she ran over to Ritsuko. Ritsuko's jaw nearly hit Rei on the head as Rei hugged her. "It was so scary, Mommy! I was stuck in a hospital room! And I was so alone! And I was afraid to get up because I didn't know if I was hurt or not, and-"

"What is the meaning of this?" Gendo snapped.

Rei didn't hear. She just continued to ramble on.

"Rei? Is that you?" Shinji asked.

Rei finally stopped talking and turned to him. "Do I know you?"

"I'm Shinji."

Rei thought for a second. "Oh, yeah. What's going on?"

Shinji whispered in her ear. "I think this is that parallel universe, but let's keep that between us now." Rei nodded.

"Rei, how do you know this boy?" Gendo asked.

Rei looked up at Gendo. "Um, I kind of just met him today, Mister," she said.

"You don't have to call me Mister," Gendo said. He then gave her a genuinely warm smile. "It's Gendo."

Rei backed up. "Who is this guy?" she quietly asked Shinji.

"He's my father," Shinji whispered back. "I mean, his other self, I think.

Gendo didn't hear them. All he could hear was the blood rushing through his brain. "How do you know her already? Have you been infiltrating the base?"

"Um, I never even heard of this place before," Shinji said.

"Stop lying to me! I want answers!"

"Why are you so uptight, Dad? Are you and mom having trouble in bed again?"

Gendo nearly gasped at that comment. "You... you're playing games with me!" He pounded one of the monitors with his fist. "Fuyutsuki!" he yelled. "I want this boy arrested and shot for trespassing, sabotage--"

He was cut off as Unit 01 roared at the top of its lungs. Rei dove behind Ritsuko, Shinji dove for cover, and the rest stood there in shock. Afterwards, everyone was just shaking. Gendo had fallen to his knees, his face clearly pale.

"That's not possible," Ritsuko whispered, her face also white.

Shinji slowly stood back up."The synthetic life form Evangelion, Unit 01." he said quietly. "In a few series I watched, didn't the machines... protect their pilots in some way?" Shinji just stared at the giant face before him.

* * *

Several minutes later, the black giant was within the city, firing it's powerful energy beams at random spots, searching for something.

In the room at NERV, there was a tremor from the shockwaves.

"The angel is here," Gendo said, finally standing up. "Listen, you two are our only choice. We know of no one else Unit 01 will accept. Will one of you pilot it and stop the angel?"

"What?" Shinji and Rei asked.

"It's what we call them," Ritsuko answered. "It's a threat to mankind."

"Wait a second," Shinji said. "That giant I saw, right? The one the JSDF was attacking?"

"Yes," Gendo answered. Shinji stared at the Eva again. 'You need me, somehow.' 'I mustn't run away.'

'Why? I have nowhere to go.'

'I mustn't run away.'

'Stop that!' Shinji shook off the errant thoughts. "I'll do it."

Gendo silently let a breath out. "Reset the system to the third child," he commanded.

* * *

Shinji calmly sat in the entry plug as it was inserted into Unit 01.

"In just a moment, the chamber will be filled with a breathable liquid," Fuyutsuki said over the communicator. "Please do not panic."

"Breathable liquid, like liquid oxygen?" Shinji asked.

"A somewhat similar substance," Ritsuko answered.

"Okay." Shinji made sure to keep his cool as the orange LCL started pouring in. Although he did hesitate in finally inhaling it.

'This is not what we anticipated,' Fuyutsuki thought as he stood in the command area. He subtly looked behind him to where Gendo was sitting. The commander betrayed nothing.

"Eva Unit 01 is in launch position," Maya Ibuki said.

"Go," Fuyutsuki said.

* * *

Chapter Notes:

Sorry if the prose is light, but I plan on restricting all text to descriptions, dialog, and thoughts, as though it was a script for the actual show.

But the descriptions will pick up as more actions happen. I wanted to focus this on character, and how everyone reacted to the changes the children are already causing.

* * *

Reviewer Responses (not all reviews, just ones I feel I need to respond to):

Mike313: Yes, I know. There will be silliness, but it will have to flow organically from the characters.

Rose1948: Well the opening was basically lifted from the TV series. But it's not Angelic Days, since Gendo in the TV series scene is nothing like the Gendo of Eva. He's actually not caring if he's late for work, and the way he speaks is more laconic than cold.

HaloEvangelion03: I will, and your username makes me picture the Evas talking like Red Vs Blue.

justanotherguyathiscomputer: Then I'd have unrevised chapters piled over the revised ones, and it would likely have too many differences to make sense. Just trust me here, please.


	3. Welcome Travelers

I don't own anything to do with Evangelion, but you probably already knew that.

**

* * *

  
**

Evangelion: Mirror Waltz

Episode 3: "Welcome Travelers"

**

* * *

  
**

"That was quite an impressive show from your son," said a man with glasses and a long nose. "Now we know why you didn't hesitate when your son was chosen."

"I think we are all pleased," add another man. "If he continues to fight this well, the angels will not be a threat to our plans."

Gendo stood in his usual position, not betraying a single thought to the council.

"But we are concerned of reports of the first," Keele said.

Gendo's lips twitched, ever so slightly.

"We don't care what personality she exhibits," said the long nosed man. "If she starts acting like a normal girl, the important thing is that she can still fulfill our plans."

"It is doubtful she will go through another shift anytime soon," Gendo said.

"But if it does, what then?" another man asked. "If her mind becomes unstable, then--"

"Then she will be replaced," Keele interrupted.

"If it comes to that," Gendo said. "There is one more matter." He actually sighed and put his hands down. "Dr. Akagi has some suggestions for 'supplemental income'." The others in this meeting just stared at him, not quite knowing what he meant. "We could... license the Evangelions for merchandising."

You could hear a pin drop. After nearly a minute of nothing but dropped jaws and wide-open eyes from the council, Keele finally stood up. "Is this some kind of joke?" he asked, the cold fury emanating from his voice.

Gendo didn't flinch. "Care to tell me what is wrong with this suggestion?" he asked in an inquisitive tone. "If you have reasons against this, I am willing to hear them."

Keele thought for a moment. "What exactly do you mean to license?"

"Anything short of actual access to any of the Evas, or our facilities." He smirked. "Did you actually think that selling a few toys of the Evas would somehow tip the world to our plans?"

Keele actually froze. "I--"

"It's understandable," Gendo interrupted, but with a reassuring tone. "I too thought that when she first suggested this. She even thought it when it first crossed her mind. But if done right, the risks will be no greater than they are with what we planned. If it works, it could add as much as two to three percent of the budget planned for the project. If that ensures the repair of even one circuit when it's needed most, then what will it matter in the end that we, as goes the idiom, 'sold out'?"

Keele slowly sat down. "We will discuss this proposal. We will let you know our answer shortly."

The holograms faded out. Gendo slumped forward, but otherwise kept his face still. 'Damn it!,' he thought. 'How could this all go wrong?'

**

* * *

  
**

The Evangelion shot up through the city streets like a rocket. Shinji just stared upward at his destination.

In the control room, Fuyutsuki stood in the command position. "The doctors tell me Katsuragi's injuries were not serious," he quietly told Ritsuko.

"Thank you," Ristuko whispered back. "The third child's synch ratio is holding steady, averaging 40 percent," she said in a normal tone.

A door opened, and Rei slowly walked in, accompanied by one of the security officers, who escorted Rei to Gendo's side. "You have permission to watch this, as long as you don't interfere with anyone, or touch anything," Gendo told Rei.

"Thank you," she said nervously, as she sat down.

'Is it me giving her concern?' Gendo thought. 'Or is it... the boy?'

Shinji arrived at street level, and was within sight of the angel.

Rei's eyed widened at the sight of the behemoth humanoid, it's body partly outlined by city lights, which made its black skin somehow even darker.

"Oh my god," Shinji said. "It actually looks bigger from up here."

"Never mind that," The Sub-Commander said. "Let's start you off slowly. Just try walking."

"Um, I can't move my legs easily right now."

"Just think about doing it. The Eva is maneuvered by your thoughts."

"Like telekinesis?"

"A neural interface," Ritsuko answered.

"Oh, like the games in the high end arcades?"

There was some light murmuring among the control room crew. "I didn't know arcade games were that advanced," a few said.

"Everyone," Fuyutsuki said, in a calm, but stern tone. The room quieted.

The angel was just standing still, seeming to assess the newly arrived stranger.

Shinji took a few deep breaths and closed his eyes.

**

* * *

  
**

"First look at your surroundings," Gendo told Shinji, as the boy sat in the driver's seat. "Get a good look, and don't loose that attention."

Shinji nodded and did what his father said.

"Now move. Just take it slowly until you get used the basics."

"Okay."

**

* * *

  
**

Shinji focused on the angel, but made sure to look all around him, particularly the street he was about to "walk" on.

He took one step forward. The angel didn't move. Shinji took another step.

"Why is it just looking at me?" Shinji asked, his breathing noticeably faster.

"Honestly, we don't know," Ristuko answered. "You'll have to get ready to react to anything it does."

Shinji looked at the angel's hand. "Oh, shit," he whispered.

He took another few steps, not taking his eyes off that hand.

Suddenly, the angel lunged at Unit 01, its hands reaching for the Eva's throat. Shinji instinctively leaned back and grabbed at the outstretched arms. Without any apparent mouth, the angel was roaring. Shinji saw lights appearing in the angel's palm. He quickly moved the Eva to a throwing position, and tossed the angel safely away.

But the angel was not about to give up. It quickly contorted its body to stand up with almost impossible speed. It ran at Shinji, who made ready to grab it in a wrestle hold.

The Eva and the angel grappled each other for a few seconds, and then Shinji knocked his opponent nearly to the ground. He slammed it with a few kidney punches.

The angel twisted around by its waist to face Shinji. The boy was stunned for a second. "Crap. No kidneys."

The angel practically knocked Unit 01 into the air with an uppercut. Shinji was only momentarily stunned, though, and made a foot sweep as soon as the angel was close enough.

As the giants traded blows, the control room crew watched with faces betraying half fear, half excitement, all but Ritsuko, who maintained a stern face, and the commanders, who betrayed no emotion at all.

'This is a street brawl,' Fuyutsuki thought. 'Were there any reports of the child being in any? I remember reading about him being too shy to confront anyone.' His eyes slightly narrowed. 'I've never seen your father fight either, but somehow...'

'It's just the way I used to fight,' Gendo said to himself. 'No. This is more disciplined, like... like something from years of training. He couldn't have learned this without us knowing. And he certainly couldn't have inherited that from me.

'Could he?'

Finally, the angel seemed to be affected by the fight, and was laying down for a moment. Shinji still kept alert.

"Who's that?" Rei asked.

"What?" the sub-commander asked, turning to the girl.

"Them," she answered, pointing to a spot on the lower side of the image display.

The crew tried to follow which location she meant.

"I think I see who she means," Maya said. She zoomed in on that area. There was a teenage boy, and a young girl. The girl's foot was pinned under a pile of rubble. The boy was frantically trying to clear enough to get her free.

Shinji recognized Toji, and his sister. "No," he said, his eyes wide. He walked over to help them, but the tremors of the Eva's walking just rained down more bits of rubble around them. Shinji backed up.

The angel was starting to rise.

Shinji stood frozen in fear.

"Pilot Ikari, what you doing?" Ritsuko asked.

Shinji said nothing.

"Pilot Ikari!"

Shinji just stared at Toji, who was frantically trying to clear away pieces of mortar that were far too heavy for him to move.

"Pilot Ikari!"

More dust fell around the children.

"The angel is getting up! You have to stop it!"

"No!" he screamed. He pounded on the controls. "I can't fight it now! They'll die!" Tears were rolling down his cheeks.

'Then take the fight somewhere else.'

The angel was upright again. Shinji frantically looked back and forth between his opponent and the children who would be crushed if the fight continued there.

Then determination set in.

"You're right, I'll have to!" Shinji shouted.

He charged at the angel, with the Eva's head lowered and arms outstretched.

"Have to what?" Maya asked. Ritsuko shrugged.

Shinji screamed as he grappled the angel before it could react. The Eva carried the angel all the way across town, losing the power cable in the process.

"You've lost the power cable!" Ritsuko warned. "You have five minutes left!"

Shinji didn't seem to hear her. He didn't stop until a shallow clearing of hills knocked Unit 01 over, and the two fell to the ground in a tangled heap.

Shinji was gasping for breath. He then noticed he had trouble moving Unit 01's head. He saw that the giant red object on the angel was right in front of his face, and cracked.

"Is, doesn't this robot have a horn?" he asked.

"Yes," Ritsuko answered. "We think it has damaged the angel's core."

Shinji continued his heavy breathing. "Does that--"

Suddenly, the core started glowing white. "It's going to self destruct!" Maya shouted.

"Shit!" Shinji tried to get up, but the angel had wrapped its limbs around Unit 01. Shinji pounded on the angel with the Eva's fists. "Let go of me!"

Somehow, the angel did. Shinji got up and ran to the city as fast as the Eva could.

The core went off. Shinji screamed as the shockwave knocked the Eva off its feat. It hit the ground face first.

Shinji groaned, but managed to look behind him, to see a giant cross-shaped explosion, made of violet fire. Before he passed out, Shinji thought he saw billions of those crosses in a field as far as the eye could see.

"Send the main retrieval team, for the Eva and the pilot," Fuyutsuki ordered. "Send the secondary team for the angel's remains, and send another team to help those children."

**

* * *

  
**

Rei backed up against Gendo's desk, as he slowly advanced towards her.

"I'm running out of patience," the commander said coldly, but with the anger clearly just beneath. "Tell me who you are."

Rei was shaking. "I said I'm Ayanami Rei."

"Liar!" he finally snapped.

Rei's look of panic turned into a scowl. "Don't you tell me who I'm not!" she snapped back. "That's the name I was born with!"

Gendo was stunned. He took a few steps backwards. "That's... that assertiveness. It's just like..." Gendo lowered his head. "What you called her is impossible. Dr. Akagi has no children."

"Mommy doesn't..." Rei was stunned now. She collected her thoughts and sighed. "Perhaps 'here' she doesn't."

**

* * *

  
**

Misato slowly opened her eyes. The captain was laying in the infirmary, with a bandage on her head and her right shoulder.

"Good, you're awake," said a medic adjusting her equipment. Misato tried to sit up. "Just stay there." advised the medic. "You suffered a severe concussion, and your collarbone is cracked.

"What? But I felt fine."

"You were in shock when we brought you in."

Misato wanted to ask more, but she just laid her head down. The medic walked to the door. "The angel?" the captain asked.

"The third child took care of it," the medic said before walking out.

Misato recalled Shinji's caring look as they rode down the lift. "Shinji," she said with a dreamy smile on her face.

**

* * *

  
**

Ritsuko stood by the prone form of Unit 01, watching the retrieval team pop the entry plug out. Somehow Ritsuko had an image of a boy popping the entry plug in and out of a toy version of the mecha.

Ritsuko shook her head. 'Ridiculous,' she thought.

Shinji was barely conscious as the retrieval team removed him, and carried him to an ambulance.

Ritsuko's phone rang. It was the commander. "Gendo," she said, since no one was around.

"Keep the boy under heavy guard until he is well. Then I wish to speak to him alone."

"Understood," Ritsuko said, even though her brow was furrowed. "Is the dummy truck ready?" she called out as she hung up.

"Just a moment!" one of the crew answered. Just after that, a crane locked a large plug into the Eva's back. Down the block, a truck carried two trailers. The first had a huge spool with the cable connecting to the plug. The trailer also had a plug that attached to one of the Eva's power cables.

The second trailer contained a series of supercomputers worked by a small army of programmers.

"Magi connection is complete," said one of the computer crew to her headset.

The crewman on top of the Eva heard from his headset. He waved to Ristuko.

"Activate," the Dr. said.

The computer crew started the dummy plug program, and the purple giant came back to life. With slow, but deliberate movements, it stood up. This took nearly five minutes.

Ritsuko called Maya. "How is the Magi holding up?"

"Fine, Sempai," Maya answered from the Magi control room. "With more data from the children, this could be fully working in a few months."

"Let's hope so." Ritsuko hung up, and watched the Eva slowly walk to a launcher, taking shallow steps to keep balance with the relative snail's pace. Ristuko imagined controlling the Eva like an RC car. She frowned. 'What the hell am I thinking? We're fighting for the future of mankind! We can't do something as tacky as selling these to children!'

**

* * *

  
**

Rei and Shinji sat uncomfortably in front of the commander's desk. Gendo said nothing, as he held his hands over his face. He then slowly lowered them. "I'm sorry for the way I reacted... Rei," he said. "I'm sure you've seen how important our work is. And the thought that... one of our pilots had been replaced with an impostor... I forgot myself."

Rei nodded. "I understand, Ikari-san. She... I mean the other me, must be important to you."

Gendo said nothing, but eventually nodded.

"If Mommy, I mean Akagi-sama isn't my mother, then who is? Was I orphaned here? Did you raise me?"

"Not really."

"Where's Mom?" Shinji asked.

Gendo put his hands up over his face again. "There was an accident eleven years ago."

"No!" Shinji said, in a shocked whisper.

"That was a long time ago," Gendo said calmly, but sternly.

Shinji just nodded. 'And it still hurts you,' he noted in his mind.

"The fact of the matter is that somehow you have replaced... your 'counterparts'. Yet you still seem to be compatible with the Evas. We will need you to pilot them in their place. I will give you twenty-four hours to decide."

"Dad, what about--" Shinji started.

"Technically you are not my son," Gendo interrupted. "Call me 'Commander'. Now I want you to see Dr. Akagi about your situation. You are dismissed."

Shinji was about to say more, but just got up and left with Rei.

"He's weird," Rei said after the two left.

"He's tormented," Shinji said. Rei just gave him a quizzical look. "My dad, back home, taught me to read people." Shinji closed his eyes. "He said it would be more helpful some days than the strongest thrown punch. I can't believe I'm using it on... on one of him"

Rei sighed. "So are the rest of us back in our own world? Mommy too?"

Shinji lowered his head. "I know," he said, his voice trembling. "We'll get back somehow."

The two said nothing more as they walked to Ritsuko's office.

**

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**

Misato was talking with Ritsuko when they arrived. The captain was in a wheelchair, and in her uniform, but still bandaged. She turned when the children entered, and her face lit up for a second when she saw Shinji. She turned the chair around to greet them properly.

"I heard you did wonderfully today!" she said while shaking Shinji's hand.

"Um, thank you," her responded.

Rei extended her hand. Mistato looked a little surprised. "I was told you didn't do that."

"Oh," Rei said, quickly withdrawing her hand.

"She's learning," Ristuko said. "Misato, I need to speak with them privately." Misato had a mild look of disappointment on her face. Ristuko stood up. "I'll take you to your office,"she added as she walked Misato's chair out of the room. "When I'm done, I'll send them over so you can be introduced properly."

Mistato sighed, but nodded. Shinji put her hand on her shoulder. "I'm glad you're all right," he said."

The captain just smiled at him, with a mild blush on her face. "Thank you."

**

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**

After returning, Ritsuko sat down and sternly faced the children. "First of all, only I, you, Gendo, and Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki know of your situation. It would be best for it to remain that way."

Shinji nodded. "I understand." Rei nodded as well.

"Good. In order to facilitate that, we need to make sure you don't arouse suspicions of those who know you." She looked to Shinji. "Since you are new here, Ikari, that should not present a problem. If anyone from your counterpart's old hometown arrives, we will let you know." She then looked to Rei. "Ayanami, your counterpart was known to be extremely reserved. She almost never spoked to anyone, and tended to spend a lot of time by herself. From what I've seen... of you, it's obvious you are not like that."

"I could try to be," Rei said, in a helpful tone.

"That will not be necessary." Ritsuko pulled out a pen an notepad. "Your counterpart had an accident a few weeks ago. She was recovering, but in no condition to pilot, which is why we brought young Ikari here. So officially, her experience caused her to reevaluate her life. It caused her, you, to open up to others."

Rei nodded. "Um, do you know how we got here? Is there any way to get us home?"

"I will look into it. That will likely require running some tests on you, but only if with your permission."

"Then you have it," Rei said without hesitation. Then she looked to Shinji. "Well, for me."

"Mine as well," Shinji answered.

"Good," Ritsuko said, as she wrote down some notes. "Then we'll meet here every day at this time, if possible." She stood up.

**

* * *

  
**

Ristuko explained some of the cover story to Misato, but the captain just half heard, as she kept her eyes on Shinji.

"So we'll still be going to school?" Shinji asked.

"What? Oh, yeah," Misato answered. "Brining teachers here would just be a security risk. But I'm sure you'll do fine." She turned her computer's monitor around. "Hey, I've been looking at your battle yesterday. You were amazing!"

Shinji winced. "It didn't feel that way at the time."

"Come on, Shinji," Rei said, beaming. "Don't be modest."

"It's not that. It just hurt like hell."

Suddenly, both Rei and Misato were trying to comfort Shinji, who was a little freaked out.

"Excuse me," Ristuko said just loud enough for them to hear. They other ladies backed away. "Shiji's already recovered, right?"

Shinji nodded. He then looked at the monitor. "It's weird watching it this way." He grinned. "Asuka would kick my ass if this were a video game."

Ritsuko snorted. "Video game?" she snapped. "Why don't we just put them on children's underwear?"

"What?" the other three chorused, looking at her with slightly different expressions of bewilderment.

Ritsuko blushed, nearly dropping her notes.

"Wait a minute," Misato said. She frowned. "Asuka?"

"She's an old friend of mine." Shinji looked a bit wistful. "I hope she isn't stuck here too." He chuckled. "She'd be swearing up a storm in German."

Ritsuko's and Misato's jaws dropped. "You know her?"

Shinji froze. "I..."

"Soryu Asuka Langely?" Ritsuko added, just to be sure.

Shinji slowly nodded his head. "I'm sorry I blew this already, Akagi."

"No," Ritsuko said. "I didn't think to ask enough about you."

Misato blinked. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I..." Ritsuko paused. "Oh my, could the second child as well?" She turned to the door. "You tell her the situation," she said to the children. "Misato, what they will tell you is top classified information. Understood?"

Misato just stared at her friend, but finally nodded.

"I'll tell Gendo about the situation, and see if the same has happened to Pilot Soryu. Please stay here for now." With that, Ritusko left.

**

* * *

  
**

Ritsuko waited patiently as Gendo spoke on the phone.

"Yes, we can look into the Second's abnormal behavior." Gendo nodded as he heard more talking on the other line. "I can't say what our suspicions are of the cause. Just send her and Unit 02 over here as soon as possible." Gendo listened some more. "Good. Thank you," he said before hanging up. "Is there anything else, Doctor?"

After hesitating for a second, Ritsuko brought out here notes. "I've been contemplating the merits of a supplemental source of funds for NERV." She laid her notes before him. "Among these are the latest annual financial reports from companies, such as Disney, Lucasfilm, Sony, Bandai, and Nintendo." Gendo reached for his coffee as Ritsuko spoke. "Including revenue solely from merchandising."

Gendo's hand froze a few inches from the cup. He stared at her, dumbstruck.

**

* * *

  
**

Ritsuko walked into Misato's office, seeing the captain and the two children taking notes. "Hey, Akagi-sama," Rei said. "We're double checking things to keep our stories straight."

"That's good," Ristuko said, nodding as she sat down. "The second child seems to have switched places as well. She should be arriving here in less than a week."

Shinji smiled. "Can I call her?"

"Let's get a few things sorted out first," Misato said. "And we should get you living quarters."

"There are plenty of available apartments in the building the first lives in," Ristuko said.

Misato frowned. "He just got here. He can't live in those dingy, cramped rooms."

"I don't believe the Commander's place is an option."

"No," the two children agreed.

Misato's face lit up. "I know! What about my place?"

"Really?" Rei asked. "You can take us both in?"

Misato drew back. "Uh... I just remembered I have only two rooms. And with Asuka coming over..."

"Isn't one of the apartments next to yours empty?" Ritsuko asked.

Misato smiled again. "Oh, that's perfect. You two girls can stay there."

"Hey!" Rei snapped. "I mean, you'd have a young boy living with a grown woman! That's indecent!"

"Why you!" Misato snapped back.

"Who says I'm being indecent with anyone?" Shinji asked, trying not to let his thoughts overwhelm him.

Ristuko smirked. "Are you sure your apartment is ready to take them in right now anyway?"

Misato blanched. "Um... I think I could call in a crew... you know, make sure it's all right," she said, trying to stifle nervous laughter. "Ristuko, why don't you finish their notes with them while I do this?"

Ristuko suppressed a chuckle. "Let's give her some privacy now," she said to the children as she stood up.

**

* * *

  
**

As the sun set above Tokyo-3, Gendo stood deep underneath it, watching the repair crew fix the minor damage on Unit 01. He also periodically looked at the notes Ritsuko handed him,sighing every time.

"I understand this might help, even a little," he said under his breath, "but is this really the legacy you wanted?"

Fuyutsuki walked up to him. "Do you think they know anything?" he asked, also under his breath.

"Doubtful," was all Gendo answered.

"Once Dr. Akagi is done discussing with the children, she will set the Magi to work on analyzing what might have brought the children here," the Sub-Commander continued. "My own theory is they switched places. Of course that's not my field, but the other children had to have gone somewhere."

Gendo looked at the notes again. He shook his head. "Have more synchronization tests scheduled. That should cover up the tests we are planning."

Fuyutsuki nodded.

**

* * *

  
**

Shinji and Rei had a relatively peaceful ride to Misato's apartment. Misato was out of her wheelchair, but still bandaged. She parked just as two NERV personnel were carrying large bags of cans to a dumpster.

"Please excuse the mess," Misato said as she opened the door, but the apartment was in pretty good condition. She led Shinji in, and nearly shut the door in front of Rei, but the girl caught it, growling.

"Thank you for letting us stay here, Misato-san," Shinji said as he bowed. Rei quickly followed suit.

Pen-pen waddled in. "Oh, I remember you telling us you had a pet penguin," Shinji said.

Misato blushed. "You really know me that well in your world?"

"Um, sort of. You're a pretty talkative teacher." Shinji did a double take. "Not that you're a bad one. You're just really friendly to us."

Misato nearly fainted at the compliment.

**

* * *

  
**

Shinji brought one of the beds to the living room. "You're sure you don't mind?" he asked Rei.

The blue-head sighed. "It doesn't matter where I sleep. I hope Mommy isn't too worried."

Shinji nodded. "I've been trying not to think about that too much.

The two children said nothing further. There was no need.

Shinji walked back to the bedroom set up for him. He pulled out the SDAT player, and put it on. As the tracks played, Shinji stared at the ceiling.

He fast forwarded to the next track.

"This ceiling is familiar."

He then stopped the player, yanked off the headphones, and ran to the front door.

Rei screamed, as she was half dressed. She held her blanket over her. Shinji didn't seem to notice, and ran outside.

Hearing the noise, Misato left the bathroom with her toothbrush still in her mouth.

Rei tried to catch her breath. "Wha- what is it, Shinji?"

Shinji cam back inside. "This apartment is my apartment!"

**

* * *

  
**

Sorry this took so long. This was when the story really goes differently than the original version, and I wanted to make it as much like the actual characters would act as I could. I also wanted to include some drama, because it was already built into the story. Just it won't be a total drama of course.

**

* * *

  
**

Reviewer Responses (not all reviews, just ones I feel I need to respond to): From (but now there seems to be a direct reply feature, so I may not need to do this from here on):

Mike313: What? You think I would cut that? A lot of people say that's one of their favorite parts.

Tribun: No, the children are not fused together. I got some personal threats if I tried any cop-outs like that, and I don't like cop-outs in the first place. I have a plan, just not that.


	4. They Will Fight

I don't own anything to do with Evangelion, but you probably already knew that.

* * *

Evangelion: Mirror Waltz

Episode 4: "They Will Fight"

* * *

Shinji was standing in dark house. There were cobwebs and rats in every corner he could see. Yet if he was afraid, he showed no signs. He saw Rei looking out a window in the next room. He slowly walked over to her.

"Rei?" he said, but no sound came from his mouth.

When he was close to her, he saw her face was still. He then noticed strings of spider webs that went from the ceiling to her body.

He brushed them away, but Rei then limply collapsed to the floor.

Her expression didn't even change.

* * *

"Yes, I want you to accompany the second and Unit 02. I will not need anything else," Gendo said over the phone, as the sun rose over the city.

"Are you sure?" Kaji Ryoji asked over the line.

"Yes. It is... too soon to do anything else."

"Understood. Good day."

"Good day." The two hung up.

"Will you need Adam at all?" Fuyutsuki asked.

Gendo took a sip of his coffee. "That will depend on what we find. Anything more is just..."

Gendo put down his cup.

"I'm sorry," Fuyutsuki said.

Gendo said nothing, so the sub-commander stood up and left.

* * *

"This is actually your apartment in your world?" Misato asked as she and the two children sat down for breakfast.

"Yes," Shinji said, sullenly. "It's the same building, the same number."

"Um, are you okay?"

Shinji looked up. "Oh, nothing. I'm just trying to remember what I dreamed." He thought for a second, and then shrugged. "It's probably nothing."

Rei opened the fridge. "You don't cook yourself?" she asked after looking around.

Misato blanched. "Uh... would you like to eat out today?" she asked, chuckling nervously.

* * *

Ritsuko frowned as she read the data from the Magi. Her phone rang, It was Gendo. "Moshi, moshi."

"You have approval to begin a marketing department for NERV," the commander said on the other line.

Ritsuko was a bit dumbfounded. "Wait. I'm supposed to start one?"

"It was your idea."

"But I never learned--"

"Then you simply hire someone to run the department. But we are trusting you to ensure any output gives away as little information as possible."

She sighed. "All right."

"Now I want you to use the Magi to--"

"See what might have caused the children to arrive," she interrupted. "I'm already looking into it." She cradled the phone on her shoulder so she could enter more commands. "Don't worry. I'm doing this by myself. I have everyone else just analyzing the battle data."

"If it's going too slowly, choose others you trust to help."

"Understood." Ritsuko then smiled. "I just had an idea. You ever heard of Pay-Per-View? Some services arrived in Japan recently. We could let people pay to see the battles."

There was silence on the other line for several seconds. "As long as it gives nothing away," Gendo finally said.

* * *

"I know a few good places," Shinji said as he got in Misato's car.

"Thank you," Misato offered, "But I'm not sure if everything will be the same here," she finished, with an apologetic tone.

Shinji just shrugged. "Okay. I'm sure you know a good restaurant."

"Or a few good bars," Rei said.

"What?" Misato snapped.

"I saw all the beer you have. It's not healty."

Misato's face was beet red.

"Do you know what that can do to your liver? Mr. Aoba's uncle—"

"Shouldn't little girls know to mind their own business?" Misato snapped as she turned to face Rei.

"Woah!" Shinji shouted as he took the steering wheel. Misato yelped and faced ahead. Fortunately there weren't any cars ahead of them. "Sorry."

After calming down, Misato just smiled. "It's okay. You just want to keep us safe." She did glare at Rei for a second.

"So did Rei," Shinji replied. "All that alcohol can't be good for you."

Misato sighed, but smiled. "Thank you for your concern, Shinji. I'll cut back."

Rei gave Misato a quick glare.

* * *

On some of the screens was an image of an energy spike that resembled three lighting bolts connected to each other on one end, and the other ends striking the Earth, two in Japan, one in Germany.

Neither May, Shigeru, nor Makoto spoke for several seconds.

"What kind of energy is that?" Ritsuko asked, in a rhetorical tone.

* * *

Misato had to stifle her laughter to keep from disturbing the people at the other tables. "He actually did that?"

Shinji nodded. "Just don't try it yourself." Misato and Rei chuckled in agreement.

"Are you ready to order?" a waitress asked.

"Just another minute," Rei answered. The waitress nodded and left. "I can't decide," Rei said as she looked at the menu.

"Shinji, I've been hogging all the questions," Misato said. "Are there any you have? That isn't classified of course."

"Well what's this 'Second Impact' I've heard about?" Shinji asked.

Misato's face turned sullen. "It's the reason we have to stop the angels."

* * *

Ritsuko tapped her pen on her desk. "How the hell do I find someone to run a marketing department?" she asked herself."Do I take out an ad? Is there some paper for marketers?"

Then her face lit up. She grabbed her phone.

A phone rang at the advertising firm of Koyama & Wada. The receptionist answered her cell.

"Akiko, this is Akagi Ristuko."

Akiko smiled. "I remember you, Ristuko-San. What's going on?"

"Um... I didn't know who else to call. My company is looking to start a merchandising department, and I was wondering if you knew how I could find experienced people."

"Oh," Akiko said. "If you like, I can send out word on my next break. What is your company?"

"NERV."

Akiko nearly dropped her phone. "The organization that built the Evas?"

Ritsuko frowned. "How did you know about it?"

"Come on! Everybody's talking about it! No one's seen what happened, but the government has given some reports. Giant robots actually appearing and fighting monsters! It incredible! And you actually want to license it?"

'I don't believe it,' Ristuko thought. 'I didn't realize people would be this excited. How?"

"Ritsuko-San?"

Ristuko coughed. "Yes, that is what we intend to do."

"I my god! You're going to be swamped with resumes, I'm sure! Oh, could you do me a favor?"

"Huh?"

"Give my firm first crack at showing you our ads. No way we're passing up the chance to get an account this big!"

Ristuko had been growing increasingly stunned as she listened. "Okay, just... I'll call you later" was all she could say before she hung up.

Akiko, on the other hand, was ecstatic. She rushed over to Wada's office and practically pounded on the door. "Wada-San, you're not going to believe this!"

* * *

Shinji and Rei sat on a park bench, their heads lowered in near despair.

"Three billion people?" Rei whispered. Misato just nodded. "So... could the angels be here to finish the rest of us?"

Misato closed her eyes. "Perhaps."

Rei's face turned determined. "Then we have to stop them," she declared as she stood up.

Shinji took a few seconds to get in the same mood, but he soon nodded, with the same stern look on his face.

Misato smiled. "So you both will pilot?"

"Yes," the children chorused.

* * *

Maya exhaled as she finished entering the data. "That's all we can do?"

"Yes," Makoto answered. "We just leave it to the Magi now."

"How long will that take."

"Estimated time, two to three days," Shigeru said.

The trio said nothing else as they got up and walked to the main control room to resume their regular duties.

'What happened, Sempai?' Maya thought. 'It couldn't have been nothing but those surges.'

* * *

"I thought they would," Gendo said over the phone, although his face was as stern as ever. "Have repair teams for Unit 00 doubled."

He hung up, and the phone almost immediately rang again. But it was from a different line. "What is is?"

"Commander, we've been flooded with calls directly to NERV command," said a young woman on the other line.

Gendo's eyes widened. 'Did something leak out?' he thought. He quickly composed himself. "What are these calls about?"

"They seem to think there is a marketing department for NERV."

"Oh, that. Direct them to Dr. Akagi."

"Um, Sir?" the lady asked, the confusion clear in her voice.

"You heard me."

There was no reply for a few seconds. "Understood," the woman finally said.

Gendo was about to hang up, but then he found himself curious. "By the way, just how many calls?"

"Oh, we lost count at two hundred."

Gendo almost blinked. "I see," he said before finally hanging up.

'I wonder... no. It doesn't matter,' he thought, shaking his head. 'It won't matter at all once we...'

He reached for his coffee.

* * *

Ritsuko wrote another name and number down as she set up another appointment. There was a knock on the door. "I'll take the next one in a minute," she said before hanging up."Come in."

Maya walked in. "Repairs to Unit 00 are coming along faster than we hoped. We should be ready to reactivate within two days."

Ristuko nodded "Good."

"And good luck with your new department," Maya added with a smile.

Ristuko was actually startled. "You know?"

"Since all those calls started in of course. Everyone here is excited about it." Maya noticed the puzzled look on Ritsuko's face. "You never watched mecha shows, or had brothers who did?"

"I preferred magical girls shows, but I did watch a few." Ristuko's eyes widened. "And if one of those came to life..."

Ritsuko thought of herself playing with a toy Unit 01, then she started to chuckle.

"Sempai?" Maya asked.

"It's nothing Maya. Thank you."

Maya left, and the Ristuko burst into laughter. She imagined Shinji and Rei selling action figures on TV, and even kids dressing in plug suits for Halloween.

She then nearly fell over. "This could actually work," she said as she just lay back in her chair.

* * *

The Bakelite in Unit 01's chamber was drained, and lifts brought the Eva to one of the training rooms, setting it down at the entry plug connector.

Meanwhile, Shinji was getting in his plug suit. 'He heard a knock on the locker room door as he slid into the arms. "Just a second," he said. He finished putting the suit on and pressed the button to fit the suit. "Come in."

Rei came in, wearing her own plug suit.

"I thought yours wasn't fixed yet."

Rei smiled. "I just wanted to get used to it."

Shinji nodded. "It's going to take me a while to. This feels really weird. I thought it would be just like a wet suit."

Rei grinned. "I've put on weirder things. The Magi would try creating new fabrics, and we'd try to see if they made good clothing. Mommy would always get the worst rashes."

Shinji smiled as well, thinking what that would look like.

"I miss Mommy, but I know I'm going to see her again. The Magi here are looking into what happned."

"The what?" Shinji asked as the two got up to leave. "Oh, those exist here?"

Rei nodded. "I haven't seen them yet, but Misato-san said she'll look into getting me clearance."

Shinji shrugged. "I guess that would be nice. Perhaps you could ask her about letting me call Asuka."

Rei blinked, then remembered. "Oh, her. Misato-san it was for security reasons. She's not supposed to know us here."

Shinji sighed. "That. There is way too much secrecy here."

* * *

With the entry plug inserted, Unit 01 came to life.

Rei discretely wandered around the control room, writing things down on a notepad.

"Begin simulation," Misato ordered.

A simulation of Tokyo-3 appeared in Unit 01's visuals.

"Just wait for the targets to center before firing," Ristuko said.

"What about the sights?" Shinji asked. "I prefer to use those."

"Eh?"

"Oh. My dad's grown into a bit of a military otaku. He really likes to take us to paintball matches."

Shinji heard lots of surprised murmuring from his communicator.

Ristuko then noticed Rei. The Dr. gave Rei a stern look and motioned her to come with her. "What the hell are you doing?" she snapped when the two were alone.

Rei shied back. "I, I was just taking notes so I could ask later," she answered, almost whimpering.

"Ask later?"

"Yes, so I won't distract any of you with questions."

Ristuko's face softened. "You were just curious."

Rei nodded, trying not to cry.

Ristuko sighed and put her hands on Rei's shoulders. "I am sorry about that." She held out a hand. "May I?"

Rei handed her notepad over. Ritsuko looked at a few pages, which were of sketches of screens and layouts, peppered with comments and questions. Her face showed she was impressed. "What's a WQ meter?"

"It's what we use to measure abnormal energy waves. This just seemed a lot like one."

Ristuko flipped through more notes. "You were heavily involved in your mother's work?" Rei nodded. Ristuko handed the notes back. "Perhaps you could help us figure out what brought you here. I'll have Maya start teaching you how our systems work."

Rei finally let out a breath. "Thank you, Akagi-sama! I won't let you down."

Shinji was still shooting at the simulated monsters when Ristuko and Rei returned. "Okay, I can shoot these things," he said. "But they aren't going to just stand there."

Misato nodded. "Let's crank it up."

The angels turned more aggressive, some dashing to Unit 01, some lunging at it. One was not dodging and weaving at it ran to the Eva. Shinji just smirked and rolled out of the way... or at least tried to.

Just about everyone in the control room screamed, watching the Eva slam shoulder first into the wall just below them.

When everyone regained their composure, Misato grabbed the mic. "Shinji, are you okay?"

"Yes, just winded."

"I think that's enough for today. Out." Misato put down the mic. "Anyone else think we'll need a bigger training room?"

Just about everyone nodded.

'I guess that's where the first of the merchandising money is going,' thought Ritsuko.

* * *

I am SO SORRY this didn't come out sooner. I had gotten to the part where the Bridge Bunnies were programming the energy analysis into the Magi, and... I got stuck. I just didn't know where to go, until a few days ago. I'm going to have to plan ahead. Anyway, next is when Asuka arrives (but does Unit 02), the children go back to school, and the next angel appears.


	5. The New Stars

I don't own anything to do with Evangelion, but you probably already knew that.

**

* * *

**

Evangelion: Mirror Waltz

Episode 5: "The New Stars"

**

* * *

**

It was the middle of the night, but Rei was just standing next to the sliding door, just staring at the night sky. "The stars are wrong," she whispered to herself.

She put her hand on the glass, and it just slid into it, not through the other side, but into the reflection.

Rei just stared at her mirror self, and put her hand to her cheek.

Then Rei screamed and pulled her hand back. Steam was rising from her palm, which was almost black in the middle.

**

* * *

**

"Good morning!"Misato exclaimed to here house mates. Shinji was preparing breakfast, and Rei was busy petting Pen-pen.

Misato wrapped her arm around Shinji just enough so that he wouldn't spill anything. "Oh, that smells wonderful!" she breathed. Shinji did his best not get a nosebleed when he realized he could feel Misato's chest on his back.

Rei stopped patting Pen-pen and glared at Misato. 'What is this hussy doing to Shinji? Sure I knew him for only a day or two, but he's too good for this, this, hussy! Damn! I need to learn more insults! Oh, I got one!'

"Try not to drool on him," Rei told Misato.

Misato glared back, but only for an instant. "I can't wait to try this," she said to Shinji.

Some steam was rising off Rei's head. Shinji was pretending nothing was going on and focused on his cooking. Misato started to gently stroke his neck.

"Do you have to be such a slut?" Rei snapped.

Misato was taken aback. "Excuse me if I want to be nice to our roommate," she said.

"It seems to me that you want him to eat this food off your stomach!"

Misato walked up to Rei but kept her expression calm. "Little girls shouldn't be thinking such naughty thoughts."

"I can't help it," Rei said smirking. "You seem to have so many, they radiate off you."

Misato started to growl. "You should learn respect for your elders, you little brat."

"Did you hear that, Shinji?" Rei asked. "She's an old maid!" Shinji pretended he didn't hear it.

Misato grabbed Rei in a headlock. "You take that back!"

"No way, you hag!" Rei bit Misato's arm. Misato screamed about Rei descending from barnyard animals.

Shinji finally finished his cooking and began to set the table.

**

* * *

**

In a building in the middle of Tokyo-3, the potentials for the NERV marketing and licensing department gathered. Ritsuko just stared at the dozens of people. 'What the hell am I doing? I don't know how to tell who's qualified or not. I don't even know what jobs to give any of them.'

She cleared her throat. "I'd like to thank you all for coming here," she said, trying to keep her voice from trembling. "First of all, anyone we hire will have limited access to sensitive material, so you will need to sign nondisclosure agreements." The people in the room nodded. "Good, then."

A tall, dark-haired man walked up to Ritsuko.

"This is Ifune-san," Ritsuko said. "He's a consultant I have hired to set up this department. He will be conducting the interviews.

Ifune received a nice round of applause as Ristuko stood aside for him. She sat down, and did her best not to throw up. 'I still can't believe I'm doing this. I'm not some salesman.'

**

* * *

**

Gendo sat at his desk, just tapping his fingers. 'So close, I was so close,' he thought angrily. 'All my plans were ready. I knew the scrolls better than those fools. How could they have not shown me this?'

There was a knock on his door. Gendo stared at it, indecision clear on his face.

Finally he composed himself. "Come in."

He was not pleased to see Shinji enter.

"Commander," the boy said, bowing. "Is there any way for me to contact Asuka Soryu? I am concerned for her safety."

Gendo was about to order Shinji to leave, but something stayed his hand. It was the way Shinji looked when he mentioned the girl. "Contacting her now would risk someone learning you are not from this world. In fact, she hasn't even mentioned coming from somewhere else. Perhaps she is still suffering from the confusion you had when you arrived." The concern on Shinji's face grew, but Gendo waved it off. "It would be best to leave it at that until she is over here."

Shinji sighed, but nodded. "When will she come over here?"

"She is scheduled to travel by ship here with Unit 02 in the next two days. I was actually going to inform you of this later."

Shinji was relieved, and then got an idea. "Can we meet her there?"

'Why am I caring what he thinks?' Gendo asked himself. 'It's just the way he speaks of her…' "I'll see what can be arranged."

"Thank you, Commander."

"Good day, Pilot Ikari." Gendo said in his dismissive tone.

"Not quite," Shinji said. Gendo noticed Shinji was holding some boxes of board games that the boy now held up. "I heard you weren't doing anything, so I thought this would be a good way to pass the time."

Gendo glared at Shinji. "How did you know what I'm doing here?"

"Nothing, really," Shinji said, half laughing. "I just could see that Fuyutsuki-san was lying when he said you were busy."

"I didn't know he was that bad of a liar." Gendo was thinking of how to deal with this revelation. 'Kozo, is old age finally--'

"It's not that," Shinji said, inadvertently interrupting Gendo's thoughts." I was just better at seeing his lies. I wouldn't have known what to look for if I didn't know him, I mean his counterpart."

Gendo was genuinely impressed. 'I need to learn more about you.' He looked at the games. "I haven't played any of those in years."

"Good. I might have a chance," Shini said with a chuckle.

Gendo said nothing.

**

* * *

**

That evening, Ritsuko and Ifune finished with the interviews. "I believe a few of them are moles," Ifune said.

Ristuko nodded. "I figured that... some people would want to get a closer look at what we are doing. This was why you had us do this outside of the facility?"

Ifune nodded. "This way none of us have access to information that is not our business."

'Not even you,' Ritsuko thought with a bit of a smile. 'That's why I brought you in,' "We probably should hire just one of them, make those people think we haven't sniffed anything out yet."

"Are you sure? Some companies would do anything to get their hands on this information."

"If it turns out any is from the JSDF, hire that one," Ristuko answered. "Just trust me." 'That person will be sent from SEELE. Then they will see this operation is just what we said it would be.'

Ifune just nodded again, as he gathered the paperwork.

**

* * *

**

It was well into the evening, and the two children and Misato were at the top of a hill. Rei set her flashlight to its dimmest setting as she scanned a star chart.

"I don't see what the point is," Misato said as she leaned against her car. "The stars aren't that different from before."

"Perhaps to a casual observer," Rei responded. "Did you know it took a coalition of astronomers from nearly every country on Earth just to agree on the names for the new constellations?"

Misato's looked turned slightly forlorn. "That wasn't the only time such things had to be done."

"Misato-san?" Shinji asked, concerned.

Misato caught herself, and tried to wave it off. "Nothing, nothing! Let's just look at these stars!" She walked over to the children. "Pax Orion should be over there. The War Chariot should be right above it."

**

* * *

**

"Now that you're all working for NERV," Ritsuko said the next day to the newly hired marketing team, "it's time you saw our star." The doctor turned on a screen. "Please keep in mind we didn't design them for marketability."

She clicked the first slides. "Unit 00", she said, and the slides showed different angles of it.

"Unit 01," she continued, and there were a few cringes. "Unit 02," she finished. When the light were back on, Ritsuko could see the team were not too pleased with the designs, but were too polite to say anything.

"Your first assignment will be to find a way to make them look more pleasing," Ristuko continued, "but I will be working with you to make sure your new designs can reasonably work with the Evas." Everyone nodded. Ristuko tried to think of what to say next, but finally shrugged. "Let's begin."

**

* * *

**

"Are you sure it's safe to activate it now?" Misato asked Maya, as the two looked at Unit 00.

"The physical repairs were completed in just a few days," May answered. "It was determined to be related to the neural connections with Rei. Sempai said it was corrected faster than we anticipated."

Misato nodded. 'That's because it's not our Rei.' "I hope this works."

"It should still be safe. We've added a lot of neural buffers since then. That's why something physical has to happen to an Eva for the pilot to feel it."

"She is correct," Rei said over the comm, keeping an even tone.

"Plus we should have a manual release system within the plugs installed soon, so the pilots can shut it down if we can't," Maya added.

'Of course,' Rei thought, 'I suggested it.' She smiled for a fraction of a second, but caught herself.

"Begin," Maya calmly commanded and the people in the room started flipping switches.

Rei did her best to control her breathing. 'I won't even feel it if it goes off,' she reminded herself, and then reminded herself a few more times.

"Harmonics are approaching critical level," Maya said. Everyone held his or her breath. "At 3.5, 3, 2.7, 2.4, 1.9, 1.3, 10, 9, 8..."

Rei shut her eyes.

"2, 1." Maya finished. Rei opened her eyes, and everyone waited, but the systems just ran normally. "We've passed the critical mark. Activation successful."

**

* * *

**

Fuyutsuki approached Gendo. "Unit 00 has been reactivated." Gendo barely even reacted. "And Ibuki has informed me that the Magi calculations should be completed within 36 hours."

That did get Gendo's attention. "I don't want that boy around when that happens."

"He and Rei have just as much stake in what is revealed as we do," Fuyutsuki reminded him.

"I don't mind if Rei does. She may even help with analyzing it. But him... he might see we have other plans."

The sub-commander nodded. "You taught him well, or would have taught him."

Gendo closed his eyes. 'Why did you have to come here? Damn you.'

"So how will you keep him occupied?"

"I'll figure out something, perhaps... of course." 'How could I have forgotten that? I need to start focusing again.' "Shinji has somewhere else he wants to be." Gendo stood up. "Do you know where he is right now?"

"He should be with Dr. Agaki in her office," Fuyutsuki answered. 'You called him by name, and want to see him in person' he thought, with a bit of a smile as Gendo left.

**

* * *

**

"It definitely accepted you better," Ristuko said as she looked at the notes. "Synch ratio is about as high as Shinji's." 'Is there something about your universe? I'll have to have the Magi look at that.'

"What are these?" Rei asked, looking at a bunch of scattered drawings.

"Possible new designs for the Evas." Ristuko winked at Shinji. "We don't want to give people nightmares."

Shinji nodded, but cringed inside. Then he looked at the drawings. "A Gundam?"

"Like one," Ristuko answered. "Aside from the originality question, the extra armor would get in the way, even if it was hollow." She put in a pile marked "Rejected", and put a few in a pile marked "Possible".

There was a knock on the door. "Dr. Akagi," Gendo said from the other side.

Ristuko had been startled by the knock, but smiled a bit when she heard the commander's voice. "Come in."

"Pilot Ikari," Gendo said after he entered and shut the door, "I have determined that the second child will need companionship of the other pilots as soon as possible. As Unit 00 is back on line, I have decided to send you to meet the second, and the first will stay here in case of an angel attack."

Shinji beamed. "Thank you, Commander!"

Rei tried to protest, but she couldn't think of what to say.

"Katsuragi, you will accompany him," Gendo continued. Rei let out a small squeak, and Misato almost smirked. "That is until he arrives at the escort fleet. Then you will return to take care of the first child."

Misato's smirk faded before it began. "But what the other two?"

"Kaji Ryoji has taken care of the second child. He will watch them both until the fleet arrives here. You both leave tonight."

Misato's jaw was practically on the floor.

Gendo didn't seem to notice. "Ayanami," he said to Rei.

Rei snapped to attention. "Yes?"

"I've heard you have some knowledge of the Magi, and may even be able to upgrade them. You are granted access to the system for that purpose. You will start immediately, along with combat training."

"Uh, thank you, Commander," Rei said, bowing.

"Good day, Everyone," the commander finished before leaving.

'Kaji?' Misato thought furiously. '_Him?_'

**

* * *

**

That evening, Ristuko and Rei watched Misato and Shinji flyoff in a military plane. "Come back soon," Rei said quietly as she waved.

Ritsuko tried not to notice, but she couldn't help looking down at Rei's somewhat forlorn face. 'Could she have changed so much just from...' She looked ahead again. "We will need you focused, Pilot Ayanami. The magi should be finished processing something very important, so--"

Her phone's rininging interrupted her. Rei waited patiently as her mother's counterpart spoke to whomever was on the other line. The call was not long.

"It's already completed," Ritsuko said as she put her phone away.

**

* * *

**

Fuyutsuki accompanied Ritsuko and Rei to the room at the core of the Magi. Gendo was already waiting for them.

The commander didn't even seem to notice them. He remained staring at one of the monitors.

"You think you've already figured out something?" Ristuko asked him.

Gendo nodded. "Part of the analysis of the event required 'borrowing' satellite recordings over Tokyo-3 during the third angel's attack." The monitor he was looking at showed a series of pictures. He clicked on the first one. It was picture of city streets, zoomed in enough to make out the lines on the roads. It was highly distorted. "Many of the bitmap files are twice as large as they should be. The Magi determined they were actually two files, and separated them." He clicked on another picture. "This is the fixed file."

The left side showed the streets deserted, with some rubble scattered from the attack. The right side showed the streets untouched by the attack, but filled with traffic.

Gendo smiled, although the others were too busy looking at the image to notice. "The data readouts will give us specifics, but it seems those children weren't just brought here. For that moment, our worlds were one."

**

* * *

**

I wanted Asuka to appear in this chapter, but that will have to wait for the next one.

This also seems really light on the action, but I needed to focus on how the people at NERV would react in the first few days of the children arriving.

**

* * *

**

Review responses:

animefan29: I'm already getting to that and then more into it the next chapter.

SithKnight-Galen: 1. Ristuko is slowly realizing this is not the Rei she knew, as some of the scenes here have shown. 2. She will find out some things later on, but it will turn out Rei already knows what happened to her grandmother's counterpart, and Asuka already knows what happened to her mother's counterpart. As already shown, Shinji learned what happened to his mother's counterpart. 3. Just the three children. 4. The other children will show up later.

colin: This is not the same Shinji, Asuka, or Rei. And don't try shipping here. I got a big problem with those.

Magestig20: That would happen, especially since that's apparently celebrated in Japan.


	6. The Trio Complete

I don't own anything to do with Evangelion, but you probably already knew that.

* * *

Evangelion: Mirror Waltz

Episode 6: "The Trio Complete"

* * *

Asuka watched the arriving monsters, but didn't flinch. She just kept a look of determination on her face.

"Magic Lance Dreaming!" She shouted once the monsters were close enough. A cocoon of red energy enveloped her.

Streams of red mist tore off her plug suit, and then started tearing off skin. Asuka didn't react.

Then the mist was tearing away her muscle and tissue. Soon she was nothing but bloody bones below the neck and above the knees and elbows.

* * *

As the fleet of ships sailed across the sea, Asuka didn't seem to notice. She just stared at the sky, wondering what had happened.

She had found herself sitting in a chamber of orange liquid. She thought she was going to drown. Her panic attack cause Unit 02 to flail around for a few seconds. The crew in the control room worried the Eva was having the same reaction as Unit 00 until the second child fainted, and the realized it was just her.

There seemed to be nothing wrong physically or mentally with her, but she seemed not to recognize anyone in the facility. Some recalled she ignored them anyway, but this was different.

They thought it was amnesia, until they realizes she wasn't telling them everything they asked. She was keeping things secret.

Then she was told the commander of NERV wanted her to come to Tokyo-3.

She didn't even look at Unit 02 as it was loaded onto one of the ships.

"Asuka-chan," a tall, grean-haired man said, interrupting the girl's recollections.

Asuka turned to him and bowed. "Riyoji-san."

Kaji forced a smile. 'I can't believe I miss the old you,' he thought. 'I only had one thing to worry about you then.' "Our guests from Tokyo-3 will be arriving soon," he finally said. "Are you sure you still don't want to greet them?"

Asuka nodded. 'I don't need any more strangers.'

* * *

As Ritsuko and Gendo looked at the readouts from the Magi, Rei looked over charts and schematics of the system.

"Eww!" the girl said. Ristuko looked up. "You actually use cloned brains for that?"

Ristuko walked up to her. "It was the best way we knew to give the Magi intuitive thinking. Did you find an alternative?"

"We certainly did." Rei tried not to get sick.

Ristuko turned one of the sheets over and handed Rei a pencil. "Can you show us?"

* * *

Kaji waited as the helicopter landed. Although he expected her, he smiled when Misato came out.

"Captain Katsuragi, welcome aboard," he said, in a tone that was anything but formal.

Misato noticed how he said it and assumed a haughty stance. "I hope you haven't done anything indecent with the second child."

Kaji's smile faded a little. "Actually I'm quite worried about her. It's almost as if she thinks she's someone else."

Misato assumed a more professional stance. "We believe we can help her with that. But first I need to speak with her. Alone."

"Then perhaps we could have some lunch together," he asked, his slight leer returning.

"Only with Shinji as well. We need at least one gentleman there."

Kaji was just as puzzled by that comment as Shinji was.

* * *

Asuka sat on the bed in her cabin, her knees tucked to her face. 'Why is Riyoji-san like this?' she thought. 'Where is everyone else? Mama? Shinji? What happened?' She rubbed her head, increasingly harder. 'Shinji and I were going to see someone... and that girl was with us... Dammit! What was her name?'

There was a knock. "Asuka Langley Soryu," said a woman's voice, "I need to speak with you."

Asuka hesitated, but then slowly got up. "Come in," she said with a sigh.

Misato stepped in, with a warm look in her face. She closed the door and walked up to Asuka. "So I am a teacher in your world?"

"My world? What…" Asuka rubbed her head again. "Oh my god, the parallel universe, that's where I am?" She smacked her forehead. "Why didn't I remember that already?"

"Shinji and Rei told me they couldn't remember things until something jogged their memories."

Asuka beamed. "Shinji's here?"

Misato hesitated. 'Don't you try anything with him!' she thought.

Asuka then huffed. "And he left me just over there? Idiot!"

Misato frowned. "He's not an idiot!" she practically snapped. "In fact, we knew to send for you because of him!"

Asuka blushed. "Oh, sorry."

"Anyway, you have to pretend you don't know him. Your counterparts never met," Misato started as she explained the situation.

* * *

"I've never heard of this material," Ristuko said as she looked at Rei's designs.

Rei just smirked. "That's because we're about to invent it."

Ristuko was actually stunned at the notion, then laughed.

Gendo continued to look at the data. 'Do whatever you have to, as long as it helps bring Rei back,' he thought.

* * *

The two Eva pilots and their guardians were seated at a table in the galley.

"Greetings, Ikari-san," Asuka said a bit awkwardly while bowing.

"Um, you can call me Shinji," he replied, just as awkwardly.

"I will." Asuka thought about what to say next. "So, uh, what's Tokyo-3 like?"

"Oh, that, it's a cool city. I mean, it doesn't look like much, but the largest buildings can actually go underground during an attack. I've seen a couple drills for that."

"Cool," Asuka said with a smile. "I'd like to see that."

"So what's your Eva like?"

Asuka's smile faded. "I don't want to go anywhere near that thing."

Shinji actually looked disappointed. "Why not?"

"She had a panic attack the other day in the entry plug," Kaji answered. "She seemed to think she was drowning."

"I know now that I wasn't," Asuka replied. "But..."

"It's okay," Shinji said. "I understand," his eyes betraying the deep concern for his friend.

"Ah, Ikari-kun really is quite the gentlemen," Kaji observed.

"You could learn a lot from him," Misato said. She put a hand on Shinji's shoulder. "You wouldn't believe how responsible he can be. How kind he is. How..."

Kaji actually found himself shocked at Misato gushing over the boy. She actually closed her eyes with a bit of a dreamy expression a couple times. "So you want to be his girlfriend?" he asked bluntly.

Misato blushed and removed her hand. "I, of course not! He's just a nice, likable person!"

Kaji smiled and then turned to Shinji. "Tell me something, kid."

"What?" Shinji responded.

"Is Misato-chan still just as wild in bed?"

Everyone else at the table went bug-eyed. Shinji's face turned beet red as he tried to slide under the table. "I... wouldn't... know," he replied in a weak voice.

Misato was furious. "How dare you impugn his honor!" she snapped, while slamming her palm on the table. "We don't even need to be around this jerk, Shinji. Let's just leave!"

"But I was ordered to stay," Shinji reminded her, although in a confused tone.

Misato blinked, then turned away as she gritted her teeth and made a fist. Then she spun around pointing at Kaji. "Then make sure you use this time showing how a real man acts!"

The other three were too frightened to respond.

* * *

Ritsuko was on the phone, and looking at designs while she waited for an answer. "Ifune-san," she said. "The 'Deacon' design is definitely the most practical." She listened some more. "I've already ordered construction of the upgrades."

She looked at some of the sketches Rei made.

"We have cannons and guns the Evas can use, and we have the progressive knife." She listened. "I can't say much, but it's designed to cut through very hard material."

She put the sketches down. "It's still the largest bladed weapon on Earth, I should think." She listened more, but had a puzzled look on her face. "All right, I'll see what I can do."

* * *

Shinji and Asuka stood on the deck of the "Rainbow", watching dolphins off in the distance. Asuka was wearing a red satin skirt, slippers the same color, and a white angora sweater that tightly hugged her figure. Shinji kept getting a small glance here and there at her chest.

"Like looking at them?" Asuka asked playfully. Shinji blushed and turned away. Asuka laughed. "I guess when she, I, bought this when I wasn't filled out as much." Asuka cupped her hands under her breasts and leaned into Shinji. "But it shows them off now, doesn't it?"

Shinji coughed furiously, but managed to nod.

* * *

Several people were working maintenance on Unit 02. "Everyone," said the supervisor loud enough for them all to hear, "we have orders from the Tokyo-3 branch." He was held up a fax sheet and began to read.

* * *

Shigeru, Makoto, and Maya looked in almost awe at the designs. "The Magi actually designed its own upgrades?" Maya asked.

"That is in the parameters of their abilities," Ritsuko said. "We just never thought to ask them to."

"Then who did?" Shigeru asked.

Ritsuko smiled a little. "Rei." The trio was stunned. "Somehow that accident caused her to become more... inquisitive. She was asking about the Magi, and that was a question she brought up. She apparently has a good mind for computer science, and has been intensely studying it. We actually expect her to help soon."

There was still disbelief on their faces, but they nodded.

* * *

Rei and Gendo rode on one of the elevators. Gendo just stared ahead, not saying anything.

"Commander, what was the other me like?" Rei asked.

Gendo barely acknowledged her.

"I'm told she had very different mannerisms, and I need to know what those were like. I know I'm supposed to be more open, but I don't want to seem completely different. Wouldn't people get suspicious?"

"Just act more reserved, and less immature, and you should be fine," Gendo said in a condescending tone.

Rei glared at him. "Maturity is also etiquette. You don't seem to know any." Gendo turned to her. Rei just smirked. "So that's why you act so cold. You'd come across as a big baby if you did anything else."

Gendo grabbed her shoulders and shoved her against the wall. "You don't know me," he said very slowly, barely containing his rage.

He noticed the elevator was nearly at his stop. He let Rei go, didn't say another word. The door opened and he walked out. Rei left after him, heading the other way. When they were far enough from each other, Gendo hung his head.

* * *

"We should be docking at Tokyo-2 in about three hours," Kaji told the children. "Before we arrive, don't you want to at least test out your Eva?" he asked Asuka, who was again wearing the skirt and sweater ensemble. She just turned her head away, so Kaji just nodded and left.

"I want to try it out," Shiji said.

"Then have fun," Asuka said, folding her arms.

"But I'd love for you to do this with us." Shinji said. "We always did things together."

"Paintball and rock climbing don't involve giant monsters," Asuk snapped, but with the fear clear in her voice.

Shinji smirked. "Don't be such a baby!" he said, imitating her voice and one of her haughty stances. "How can you learn anything in this world if you're just cowering in a corner all the time."

Asuka was furious. "Okay, you idiot! I'll come see the damn thing!"

* * *

The children stood on an elevated platform that held a large, rolled up canvas, and several rolls of rope.

Asuka leaned on the railing. "That isn't how I remember it," she said.

"What do you mean?" Shinji asked.

"The eyes... scarier. And it didn't have lips. And it's all muscular now."

"Armor upgrades," Kaji answered. "And it's to make them more pleasing to look at."

"Good," Asuka said. "If those things are trying to save the world they shouldn't be scaring everyone."

"I guess. It didn't seem to bother NERV before." The children didn't seem to notice Kaji's puzzled tone. "And the other Evas are getting similar upgrades."

"Oh, for licensing," Shinji said with a smile.

Kaji just gave him a funny look.

"So you think you're ready to use that again?" Shinji asked Asuka.

The redhead turned away, clasped her hands behind her back, and sighed. "Shinji, I can't."

Shinji looked at the rope, and picked up one of the smaller strands. Kaji quickly realized what the boy was doing, and winked at him. He pinned Asuka's arms. "What are you doing?" she snapped as Shinji tied her hands.

"Helping you face your fear," he said. "And returning the favor you did for my fear of spiders," he whispered in her ear.

* * *

Shinji yawned as he woke up. Then Asuka dumped a handful of tarantulas onto his blanket. She didn't flinch when he screamed.

"Sometimes you just have to face your fear to conquer it," she said.

"But, but those are--"

"They aren't deadly. That's just in the movies." Asuka assured him. "Okay their bites can sting, but if you treat them right, they're actually kind of gentle." She rubbed one of them with her finger to prove it, and the spider seemed to react almost like a cat being petted.

* * *

"Okay, you win," Asuka said. Then she made her haughty face. "But I swear if you take advantage of me like this..."

"Only if you ask me to," Shinji assured her with an exaggerated leer.

The two walked up to the entry plug and the hatch opened. "Wait! This will ruin my clothes!" Asuka said.

"We've actually soaked different things in LCL when testing these," Kaji said. "We can get just about anything clean."

"You aren't getting away that easily," Shinji said.

"Hmm, but perhaps you should at least be suited up," Asuka said.

Shinji shrugged and went to get changed as Kaji helped Asuka into the seat. "You can untie me now," she said.

Kaji nodded, and tried to undo them. He frowned. "It seems he overdid the knot."

Asuka's eyes widened. "What?"

"It's okay, I'll find something to cut this off. You just get used to this again."

Kaji left and Shinji soon showed up in the red plug suit. "How do I look?" he asked.

Asuka smirked. "You're sagging."

"What?" Then Shinji noticed the suit wasn't completely fitting around the chest. He yelped and wrapped his arms around it. Asuka laughed. "Okay, I guess I deserved that," Shinji admitted.

The entry plug was inserted into Unit 02, and the plug started to fill with LCL. Asuka closed her eyes and was visibly shuddering.

"Look at me," Shinji said. Asuka opened her eyes. "Just keep looking at me." The LCL soon reached their necks. Asuka tried to keep calm. "Okay, we inhale on the count of three," Shinji said holding up three fingers. The two held their breaths as the liquid filled up. Shinji counted down with his fingers, and the two inhaled.

"This isn't so bad," Asuka said after taking in a few breaths. "I can talk in this stuff? Wow!"

"Let's have some fun with this," Shinji said. "System activate," he commanded. The plug came to life. He said a few more commands, but then the system seemed to go haywire. "What the hell?"

"Sorry about that," Kaji said over the comm. "The language was set to German."

The roof of the hold opened up, and the Eva stood up. "Evangelion Unit 02 is doing a shakedown run for its upgrades," Kaji said over the fleet PA. "So I hope you don't mind if it takes a few strides on your decks."

* * *

"We'll shut down and upgrade Casper first," Ristuko said as she and other NERV staff, including Rei and Misato, looked over the designs.

"That will have to wait," Fuyutsuki said. "An angel has been spotted."

"Get suited up," Misato told Rei. She turned to the rest of the crew. "Contact the escort fleet and see if they can help."

* * *

Kaji delicately cut the ropes around Asuka's wrists. The girl looked at her arms once they were free. "You're lucky they didn't leave any marks," she scolded Shinji.

"Ikari," said an officer as he hurried into the room. "There is an angel heading to Tokyo-3. We have a copter ready to take you to NERV." Kaji translated the English.

"So I can use my Eva," he guessed. Then he looked at Unit 02. "We already have one ready. How close are we to shore?"

Kaji spoke with the officer. "Just a few hundred yards, and a few miles from the city," he finally told them.

Shinji turned to Asuka. "I can do this myself it you like."

Asuka looked at the Eva. Then she shrugged. "What the hell. I'll have to wash these anyway."

The two got back in the Eva, which then went over to the Rainbow's deck, plugging the power cable in. "Why do they call this 'Over the Rainbow' anyway?" Asuka asked. "That's an odd name for an American Navy vessel."

"I asked the captain, and the designer said named it that as a birthday present to his daughter, but the captain thinks he just lost a bet," Shinji said. "The cable will take us a thousand yards. After that, we have five minutes to reach the city. Ready?"

Asuka nodded. "Go!" she said.

The red Eva leaped off the deck of the carrier, and although it quickly sunk, it walked as fast as it could through the shallow water. The cable finally ran out at the top of a hill.

"Rei, we should be there in a few minutes," Shinji said over the comm.

The blue-haired girl's face appeared on the interface. "Understood, Shinji. I..." Then Rei saw Asuka sitting behind Shini.

From the control room, Misato saw it as well. Both the captain and Rei did their best not to freak out.

Unit 02 removed the cable and sprinted to Tokyo-3.

* * *

When I had Asuka tied up in the old fic, it was mostly for fun. Here I wasn't going to bother with that, as I couldn't think of a plausible reason for it. Then I realized Shinji might do it, especially if it was payback for something.

* * *

Reader Responses:

SithKnight-Galen: No nexus. It's more like the universes had a mutual joining. Nor did that exactly cause the transferring. The story will get to the details later.

Kknd2: I wrote him/her back explaining why that wouldn't work. For the rest of you, just know that the children from the main Eva world are not in the alternate world. The story will get to them eventually. Just remember that in "Dual" we didn't know about Kazuki's and Mitsuki's counterparts until over halfway into the series (we saw one sooner, but nothing indicated that person was a counterpart at the time).

Ctu-Shadow: I'm not doing wild antics, if that's what you mean. I do have something planned, though.


	7. The Second Battle

I don't own anything to do with Evangelion, but you probably already knew that.

* * *

Evangelion: Mirror Waltz

Episode 7: "The Second Battle"

* * *

Ritsuko tried to hide how nervous she was, but it was obvious to the camera crew. "Just do what we rehearsed," the director said. "Ifune will come in if you can't do this."

Ristuko nodded weakly. The director counted down and the cameras rolled.

"My fellow Japanese," she started. "You surely have heard of the threat that has befallen us, and heard of the devastation caused in thwarting it. That monster that attacked Tokyo-3 was not alone, and another one is headed there as we speak."

The director beamed. "Wow. She's a natural," he said to the crew next to him. They nodded.

"But you took the news of our defense against them in a way we did not expect," Ritsuko continued. "It seems that you actually want us to sell you likenesses of the Evangelions we are using." She feigned a resigned expression, and half turned away. "Now it would seem that such a thing would be crass, considering we are fighting to save humanity, but this is what you have demanded, and this is what we are giving you." She faced the cameras again. "Perhaps it is better this way. Rather than just taking money from the taxes you pay, we can give you something in return. Then, in a sense, we are all doing our part to save the world."

That line actually got a few cheers from the crew before the director reminded them Ritsuko was still talking.

"To start, we are ending the media blackout of these battles…

* * *

The red form of Unit 02 sprinted towards Tokyo-3. Asuka was doing most of the running, while Shinji looked around. He was about to warn her of a small cliff, but she saw it and leapt over it.

The giant reached the city with about two minutes to spare. A power cable came up and the Eva attached it.

"That was great, Asuka!" Shinji said, giving the redhead a thumbs-up.

Asuka was grinning. "It's like when we used to race-"

"The angel is here," Rei interrupted over the comm.

Asuka's grin faded as she saw the giant, magenta, flying cockroach in the distance. "It's that thing," she almost gasped.

Rei did gasp. "What the hell is she doing there?" she snapped.

"I…" Shinji stared, but before he could answer, Mistato came on both comms.

"We're sending the weapons to your positions," the captain said. "So get…" she was dumbstruck seeing Asuka with Shini.

"We thought this would be the fastest way to get here," Asuka said.

"Th-then Shinji should transfer to Unit 01," Mistato said, regaining her composure.

"We don't have time, Captain," Shigeru said.

Mistato was about to protest, but knew it was useless. "Okay then, get in positions."

The Evas grabbed the guns sent to them, as the angel reached the city limits.

"I don't really know how to use these," Rei said. "I mean, I know to point and shoot-"

"Just keep the sights aligned," Mistato politely interrupted. "Then shoot where we tell you to."

Rei nodded, even though her face didn't show her any less nervous.

* * *

Down in the shelter, a crowd gathered around Kensuke and his laptop. There was a lot of discussion over the announcement that they would be able to see this battle. Toji was next to his friend, and Hikari stood directly behind the taller boy. Kensuke himself just sat there, his face frozen in awe and wonder.

* * *

"We'll try to get its core," Shinji said to Rei. "You save your shots for when you need them."

Rei nodded, trying not to shake her gun.

The angel floated down the street, and stopped nearly a hundred yards from the two Evas. Then its body rose to a vertical position, as it readied a tentacle to strike above Unit 02's head.

Shinji fired at the appendage, and then made ready to duck out of the way, but the tentacle was stung by the gunfire.

The angel backed off, but just a little. Then it swung both tentacles horizontally. Rei tried firing at one of them, but it just created a small smoke cloud. She tried to dodge the incoming attack, and half worked. Unit 00 fell on its back.

Unit 02 didn't get out of the way in time, and the other tentacle hit its right side. The Eva was knocked to the ground, and the two pilots screamed in pain.

"Shinji!" Misato shouted.

"We're… okay," Shinji responded. "It just hurt for a second." Then he, Asuka, and Rei all saw the tops of buildings had been razed off by the tentacles, and there were clouds of dust and debris as those tops crashed to the ground.

"That thing could wreck the entire city before we stop it," Asuka said, trying not to look too horrified. In the control room, Misato and a few others nodded.

"Just fall back for now," Misato said. "Try to get it away from the city."

Shinji nodded and had Unit 02 reach for its gun as it moved to get away. But the angel was ready to lash out again. Unit 00 stood up, and opened fire at the angel. It lashed its other tentacle at the blue Eva, and Rei did not dodge in time.

She screamed, and continued to scream after getting hit.

"Rei!" Shinji shouted.

Rei finally stopped screaming. "I thought you said it would only hurt for a second," she said, trying not to cry. Unit 02 ran over and picked up the other Eva. The two ran off, and the angel followed, with a slow, yet deliberate, pace.

* * *

"Why are they running?" asked some people in the shelter. "Are there cowards piloting them?" a man asked.

"Who said that?" snapped Toji, turning around. "How dare you question their honor!" he nearly shouted. "I was there the last time! They weren't just trying to save their skins! They're taking the fight to somewhere safe!"

The crowd saw the Evas moving, not to hide or get away, but cutting a path that avoided as many buildings as possible. They all started agreeing with Toji's stance. The teenage boy sat down, and barely suppressed a tear.

Kensuke looked at his friend with worry. "You know, I might be able to hack into the shelter communications. Then you can call the one your sister is in."

Toji shook his head. "Thank you anyway."

* * *

"Is there a reason me getting hit hurt more?" Rei asked as the Evas continued to try to draw their target out of the city.

"That?" Makoto said. "The sensory input on an Eva is split when there are more than one pilot in a plug."

"But you should try to avoid getting hurt anyway," Misato added.

Asuka looked at the tentacles. "Perhaps we could pin those things down, and Rei takes out the angel."

"Are you insane?" Misato snapped.

"I can't even shoot straight!" Rei added.

"Wait, do you know how to use the progressive knife?" Shinji asked.

"Yes… I think I can do that."

Misato nearly clasped her hand over her mouth, but caught herself. "It's too risky," she said sternly. "I can't let you do it."

Shinji looked around the city. 'Who knows how many people couldn't get to the shelters in time,' he thought. "We have to do it," he said.

Both Rei and Misato stifled yelps. The captain eventually nodded.

"But we'll shut Unit 02 down if it gets too intense," Shigeru added. Misato emphatically nodded.

The angel drew nearer. Unit 02 readied to move. Asuka's breathing grew faster. "I can't believe I suggested this," she said.

Shinji turned his head slightly. "You can do this, Asuka," he assured her.

The angel whipped its tentacles at the Evas. Asuka took a deep breath. "Now!" Unit 02 lunged at the right tentacle and grabbed it tightly. The children screamed but kept moving. Unit 02 grabbed the left tentacle. The appendages tried to wriggle out of the Eva's grasp, but it kept its ground.

Rei grabbed the progressive knife from the shoulder sheath, ducked under one of the tentacles, and started stabbing the core.

"Hurry, Rei!" Misato nearly screamed, as she heard the screams of the other children.

Unit 00 broke through the surface of the core and started to sink in.

When the blade was practically buried, the core started glowing. Rei hesitated.

"Another self destruct?" Maya said, more in disbelief than asking.

"Get out of there, now!" Misato ordered at the top of her lungs.

Unfortunately, Shinji and Asuka were in too much pain to hear. Rei ran to Unit 02 to try to get it out of the way. As she was running, there was a quick flash, and then nothing. Rei looked back and saw the core was now half charred. Then angel fell over, its tentacles stopped glowing.

In the plug of Unit 02, Shinji was gasping to catch his breath. He then heard sobbing from behind him. "Asuka?" he said softly as he turned around.

The redhead was trying, but failing to hold back her tears. Shinji cradled her head in his palms.

"It's okay, Asuka. We did it," Shinji assured her. Asuka wrapped her arms around Shinji, and then slumped over.

"Are you all right, Shinji?" Misato asked over the comm, trying not to seem too frantic.

"We're fine. Asuka just fainted."

Misato saw Asuka in Shinji's arms, and growled under her breath. "We'll… send a retrieval team immediately," she finally said.

* * *

Gendo sat in the dark room as the holograms from before lit up. "This is not good," Keele said. "The angel should not have appeared so soon."

"I didn't know we had a specific schedule for them," Gendo said, trying not to seem too sarcastic.

"But there are definite changes. This angel was not to appear in this way," said another man.

"So with what is written about the angels being as nebulous as it is," added Keele, "something that goes against it has to be drastic. Do you have any ideas, Ikari?"

Gendo kept his face still. 'He knows something is up, but I can't tell him about the children yet… wait, how would that cause the angels to break with the prophecies? Is there something about that day?' He nodded to Keele. "We have a theory, but we need to look into it further."

* * *

Rei and Misato walked to the infirmary, both trying to walk ahead of the other. They were both surprised to see the other two children walking out of their rooms, and fully dressed.

"You're all right, Shinji?" Misato asked.

The boy nodded. "Apparently splitting the link system among us did something. I kind of couldn't follow what Akagi-san said," he admitted sheepishly.

"That's wonderful!" Misato exclaimed. "Since you're already well, perhaps you'd like to come to dinner tonight?"

"Hey, I'm taking him to a movie," Rei protested.

"What are you two talking about?" Asuka snapped, looking at the two with a jealous glare. "I just go to see him again, and…"

The three girls started squabbling, and Shinji tried and failed to inch away.

* * *

"Yes, that's a generous offer," Ritsuko said over the phone. "We'll talk about it some more later. Good day." She hung up, and then went to the next call. 'Why can't we bring in receptionists today?' she lamented to herself.

* * *

The three pilots and Misato sat at a restaurant, Rei and Asuka by Shinji's side looking pleased, and Misato barely containing her fury.

"So you really want to keep doing this?" Shinji asked Asuka. The redhead nodded.

"I hope she doesn't freak out again," Rei said.

"Hey! I can handle it perfectly well, thank you!" Asuka snapped.

"What are you doing?" Misato said, trying not to talk too loudly. "This isn't something to talk about in public!"

The three children blushed, and apologized. Shinji was a bit relieved, but then noticed the three ladies glaring at each other. 'This is not what I need,' he thought with a mental sigh.

* * *

I can't apologize enough for the delay in this. I just was really that stuck.


End file.
